Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections | Vote to AIADMK is vote to BJP, warns Udhayanidhi

“Every vote to the AIADMK is a vote to the BJP; it is a vote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” DMK youth wing leader Udhayanidhi Stalin warned the public while campaigning for Congress nominee for Uthangarai Assembly constituency S. Arumugham on Thursday.

Also campaigning for DMK candidate D. Mathiazhagan for Bargur constituency, he alleged that the AIADMK was a slave to the BJP, and that it would be run by the latter.

He urged the public to remember the misery caused by demonetisation. “Do not forget the long queues in front of ATMs and lives lost waiting in queues.”

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Centre’s dues to the State, Mr. Udhayanidhi said the BJP Government owed Tamil Nadu ₹15,000 crore towards GST reimbursement, but it claimed lack of funds. “Mr. Modi has money to construct a new Parliament building at ₹20,000 crore, but no money for flood relief,” he added.

On the hike in LPG prices and NEET for medical seats entrance, Mr. Udhayanidhi said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami would have understood people’s pain only if had become the Chief Minister with people’s votes.

On the proposal to introduce entrance exams for nursing courses, he said it was an attack on the poor’s access to education.

Mr. Udhayanidhi rejected the AIADMK’s claim that the State ranked high in the safety index for women by referring to three incidents: the Pollachi sexual assault case that involved an AIADMK functionary, the alleged sexual harassment of a senior woman police officer by special DGP Rajesh Das, and the persisting ‘mystery’ in the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa

“This was the government that shot dead Sterlite protesters in broad daylight. It is time to send this government home,” Mr. Udhayanidhi said.