Tamil Nadu: AIADMK kickstarts poll campaign, blames DMK for false propaganda

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], December 27 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam kickstarted the Assembly election campaign for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) at YMCA ground in Royapettah on Sunday.
Addressing the public here, the Chief Minister said, "It is AIADMK where a party cadre can become a chief minister. Today I am the chief minister, tomorrow it may be Panneerselvam or any party worker. If an AIADMK cadre does hard work, the designation naturally comes to his door."
Slamming the opposition leader MK Stalin, he said, "Stalin is spreading false propaganda about AIADMK. He blames us about waterlogging in Chennai. I am asking Stalin what he had done for five years when he was the mayor. He became deputy chief minister thereafter, nothing has changed."
Palaniswami said 11 new medical colleges will be opened in the state in next year generating 1,500 seats. He talked about the 7.5 per cent reservation made for government school students in the medical colleges of the state.
On COVID-19, the chief minister claimed, "Tamil Nadu has handled the pandemic situation quite better than other states. We conducted RT-PCR tests. Even the prime minister acknowledged us for our efforts."
He said during his government, many industries were started in Tamil Nadu. "In the 2019 global investors summit, 304 companies participated. During the COVID situation, 60,000 crore investment has been made in Tamil Nadu."
Further, mobile clinics, drinking water and sewage system remained some other key agendas of the chief minister's speech.
Palaniswami announced about the memorial of late leader J.Jayalalithaa and invited people to attend its opening ceremony.
During the rally, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said, "I heartily thank all the people who accepted me as the coordinator of AIADMK which endures the vision of MGR and Amma. MGR's great party is now run by cadres. We all are proud to be cadre in the party."
Panneerselvam described various welfare schemes of the AIADMK government including AIIMS in Madurai, housing for poor, employment and others.
Criticising the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the deputy chief minister said, "The Kachathevu problem and cauvery issue are the creation of DMK. They also attempted to destroy the farmlands with hydrocarbon projects. During the Srilankan Civil War, DMK and the then central government acted like spectators."
Tamil Nadu is due for Assembly polls in 2021.