DMK mocks TN CM over dengue, caricatures him as 'mosquito'

Stepping up its attack on the AIADMK government over dengue deaths in Tamil Nadu, opposition DMK today mocked Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his cabinet colleagues by caricaturing them as mosquitoes.

In a cartoon, depicting Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam as "mosquitoes", DMK mouthpiece 'Murasoli' today also dubbed the duo as "betrayers".

The opposition party said the cartoon it carried on the front page of its mouthpiece was previously being circulated on instant messaging service WhatsApp.

The daily also prefixed the word "dengue" to the name of state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar.

The DMK has been taunting the Palaniswami-led government as the "dengue regime".

Palaniswami, on the other hand, has rubbished the DMK's charge and accused it of politicising the issue.

The government is not only facing the heat from the DMK on the issue, but also from other opposition parties, besides the rival AIADMK faction led by deposed leader T T V Dhinakaran.

DMK leader M K Stalin and Dhinakaran, while engaging in activities like distributing 'Nilavembu Kudineer' (a traditional neem concoction that helps fight fever) and awareness programmes on dengue prevention, are not missing out on a chance to target the government on the issue.

Dhinakaran had accused the ruling regime of not taking adequate "precautionary steps" to prevent the spread of the vector-borne disease and squarely blamed the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues such as Local Administration Minister S P Velumani and Vijayabaskar on the issue.

Alleging that the government was "lying" as regards the number of dengue deaths reported from the state so far, Dhinakaran had claimed that the incumbent regime would soon come to an "end" as the people were aware of the "truth".

On October 14, Palaniswami had hit out at Stalin for accusing his regime for the spread of dengue and said the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly was wantonly doing it to denigrate the government.

The chief minister had also said that dengue would be eradicated with the help of the people of the state.

Without naming any party, he had said, "Many are trying to politicise this.... They have nothing to politicise other than this."

In an analogy apparently aimed at the DMK, Palaniswami had said if one were to wear coloured glasses, the sight would only reflect that colour.
"Only a plain pair of glasses will allow a realistic vision. I hope those who criticise will understand."

He had also listed out the steps taken by his government to tackle dengue such as fogging operations, awareness campaigns to keep the environment clean and distributing 'Nilavembu Kudineer' at public places for free.

"The government is taking all possible steps to eradicate dengue," he had said.

A five-member central team, deputed to examine the dengue situation in Tamil Nadu, had termed the 40 deaths in the state due to the fever since January as "minimal" and said there was no need to panic.

The team had also mentioned that it had been informed of the 40 deaths, out of 12,000 cases reported since January, by the officials of the state administration.