Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan campaigns for CPI(M)'s S Venkatesan

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 3 : Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan campaigned in support of Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate S Venkatesan in Madurai on Wednesday.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over high petrol and diesel prices, Thiagarajan said, "The (BJP) has been ruling at the Centre for 10 years and their achievement is that they are collecting as much tax from the people as they can loot. Petrol price was Rs 70 during Congress rule. But today petrol is sold at Rs 100."
"Despite the drop in crude oil prices, petrol prices have not decreased. Petrol prices are kept high to exploit people. But due to the election, the price of petrol has been reduced by three rupees. This strategy can be taken in other states but not in Tamil Nadu. This is because Tamil Nadu is a educated state."
Taking a dig at the BJP government for misusing central agencies for politcal gains, Thiagarajan said, "In BJP's tenure, 25 opposition leaders including Ajit Pawar and Rahul Patel have been booked by the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Department. Do you know what these 25 people did? All these 25 people have joined BJP. After they joined, their problem was solved."
"All these people were accused of crores of rupees corruption but then they joined BJP's washing machine and suddenly became white and white," he added.
On the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Thiagarajan said, "BJP says that we will win 400 seats but fearing defeat, they have put some state Chief Ministers in jail."
Asking people to vote for the INDIA bloc, Thiagarajan said, "After the release of the electoral bonds, it is clear that the BJP is ruling with only money as its target. Today, democracy is being butchered. If the BJP government continues, the cemetery will be the future. You should vote for INDIA bloc to retrieve democracy."