Continuing with his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday accused him of “trying to cheat” the state’s people by just saying Vanakkam (Tamil word for greetings) whereas the Union Government led by him continues to “deceive” the state by not releasing funds even to tackle natural disasters.
Stalin, while addressing a campaign meeting for elections to urban local bodies in Kanyakumari district via video conferencing, launched a frontal attack on the Centre by accusing it of trying to “swallow” one by one the financial resources of the state governments.
Criticizing Modi for his objection to Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament during which he said India was a “Union of States”, Stalin said there was nothing wrong in the speech by the Congress MP since he has just reiterated what is written in the Constitution.
“States are the foundation of this country,” Stalin said in his speech and questioned the Centre why it has not released funds sought by the Tamil Nadu government for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people and that why no major projects were not announced for the state in the Union Budget.
“The Prime Minister quotes Thirukural but forgets Tamil Nadu where Thiruvalluvar (who wrote the couplets) was born. Where is the due importance for the Tamil language? Do you think you can cheat the people of Tamil Nadu by saying Vanakkam? People of Tamil Nadu will never cheat others nor get cheated themselves,” Stalin said in his 30-minute speech.
He also said the people of Tamil Nadu will not “believe” people who speak in Tamil occasionally only with an intent to seek votes as they are “aware of their various designs.”
The Chief Minister also accused the Centre of not responding to the state’s request for the release of Rs 6,230 crore for temporary and permanent flood mitigation measures for the past few months.
“We have not got money from the Centre. States are already facing financial crises due to Covid-19 mitigation efforts. Already, the Centre snatched away much of the financial resources of the states. Where do we get money to run the state?” he asked.
Opposing the ‘One Nation, One Registration’ scheme announced in the Union Budget, Stalin said the revenue from land and property registration was one of the major resources for the states. “They want to snatch that as well. The Centre seems to be keen on swallowing the financial resources of the state governments,” he alleged.
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