DMK will fulfill all promises made during elections: M K Stalin

Stalin said over 70% of the promises in the party’s election manifesto have been fulfilled in the past 16 months

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said the government will place before the Assembly the reports submitted by two Commissions led by retired justices A Arumughaswamy and Aruna Jagadeesan on the death of J Jayalalithaa and police firing on anti-Sterlite protests for debate after which further course of action will be decided.

Stalin said the commission that probed Jayalalithaa’s death has highlighted “several problems” but he will not comment about them as the contents of the report will be debated in the Assembly. He also asserted that the government would also place the report on police firing against anti-Sterlite protesters before the Assembly.

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“The justice Arumughaswamy Commission was constituted by the then AIADMK government after O Panneerselvam raised doubts over Jayalalithaa’s death. We came to power and expedited the Commission’s work which submitted its report. We will place it before assembly as promised in our election manifesto,” Stalin said.

The Chief Minister’s comments, made on Thursday at a wedding event in Coimbatore, come three days after the government decided to seek the opinion of legal experts on justice Arumughaswamy’s recommendation to initiate a government enquiry against V K Sasikala and three others, including the then Health Minister C Vijayabaskar.

The justice Aruna Jagadeesan committee has recommended action against 17 police officers and four officials, including the then-district collector of Thoothukudi for the police firing that killed 13 civilians.

Taking potshots at Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami’s comments that the DMK government has failed to implement promises made during the elections, Stalin said over 70 per cent of the promises in the party’s election manifesto have been fulfilled in the past 16 months.

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“We are very clear that we will implement the remaining 30 per cent promises as well. People ask when will the government start providing Rs 1,000 every month to women heads of households. We will certainly implement the scheme once the financial situation of the state improves,” the Chief Minister said.

He said the party government will continue to work for the people and will implement promises that were never made to the people.

Jayalalithaa’s death is one of the most politicised issues in Tamil Nadu in the past few years with DMK also demanding a “fair probe” into the AIADMK leader’s demise. The DMK also raked up Jayalalithaa’s death in the run-up to the polls and at one time, the party also demanded a CBI probe.

The Commission examined as many as 154 witnesses, including Jayalalithaa’s official and personal staff and Panneerselvam. Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s long-time friend, had submitted a voluminous response, narrating her side of the story and how her conviction by a Bengaluru court in 2014 triggered a host of health issues for the former chief minister.