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‘Udhayanidhi Stalin is a Brick Thief’, 'DMK Should Fulfil Old Promises Before Making New Ones’, Says Annamalai In Campaign For Erode East Bypoll

Swarajya Staff

Feb 21, 2023, 12:39 AM | Updated Feb 21, 2023, 10:48 AM IST


Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.
  • Annamalai came down heavily on the ruling DMK for not fulfilling its promises. He also criticised Udhayanidhi Stalin and Minister for Excise and Electricity, V Senthil Balaji.
  • On the second day of his campaign in Erode East for KS Thennarasu, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, K Annamalai called Udhayanidhi Stalin a 'Sengal Thirudan' (brick thief). He also held up a brick to reinforce his point.

    A case was filed against Udhayanidhi in 2021 by a BJP member from Kovilpatti. He alleged that the brick with ‘AIIMS’ written on it that was shown by Udhayanidhi during an election campaign was stolen from the AIIMS site and thus was punishable under law.

    Annamalai said that there was a lot of difference between him and Udhayanidhi. While Udhayanidhi had shown a 'stolen brick', what he was showing was a representation of the over 1 lakh bricks that were used to construct 11 medical colleges during the rule of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.

    Earlier, in the day, Udhayanidhi had held up a brick to show that the Madurai All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had not started even though the Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone in 2019.

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    In a recent debate in Parliament, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, had come down heavily on senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP TR Baalu, saying that the DMK was unnecessarily politicising the issue. He had also said that one of the main reasons for the delay was the DMK government not allotting land on time.

    DMK Not Fulfilling Its Promises

    He urged the people to vote for Thennarasu because his victory would jolt the DMK out of its slumber. He said that the DMK was sleeping on two of its important poll promises—Rs 1000 per month to women and Rs 100 subsidy per LPG cylinder. Further, he said that the total due was Rs 24200 for the 22 months that the DMK has been in power.

    Pressure Cooker Being Given Out Of Money Due To Women

    Referring to the pressure cookers allegedly distributed by the DMK to women, he said that if the party thought that it can fool women by giving pressure cookers worth few hundred rupees, they were mistaken as women had not forgotten the Rs 24200 due to them.

    NDA Did Not Lose By A Big Margin In 2021

    Regarding the margin of victory, he said that Yuvaraj M of the Tamil Maanila Congress, who contested as part of the NDA, had lost by a small margin of 8000-9000 votes and so it was definitely possible for Thennarasu to win this time if the alliance worked hard.

    Attack On ‘Liquor Minister’ V Senthil Balaji

    Holding up pictures of the ‘pattis’ (shamianas) erected by the DMK, allegedly to confine and prevent voters from interacting with the workers of the AIADMK and the BJP, Annamalai said that Senthil Balaji was spending money obtained from illegal manufacture and sale of liquor in the state.

    Also Read:Tamil Nadu: 'Voters Paid By DMK Forced To Watch Udhayanidhi Stalin Movies', Says Annamalai While Campaigning For KS Thennarasu In Erode East


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