Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 22 : AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday alleged that the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was not allowed to raise critical public issues, including the problems faced by farmers, distress in the poultry sector, and the spread of chikungunya in the state.
Speaking to reporters, Palaniswami said the AIADMK sought permission to raise farmers' concerns but was denied an opportunity even during Zero Hour. "Today, permission was not granted to speak on the crucial issues faced by farmers, despite our request inside the Assembly," he said.
Highlighting the challenges in the poultry sector, the AIADMK leader said nearly 40,000 poultry farmers and around five lakh workers are affected across Tamil Nadu. "Poultry farm owners have been severely affected due to issues such as the hike in electricity tariffs. We attempted to raise these matters during Zero Hour, but we were not allowed to do so," Palaniswami said.
The AIADMK leader also flagged public health concerns, alleging that the government did not allow a discussion on the spread of chikungunya.
"Chikungunya has spread, and a large number of people have been affected. We were not given permission to speak, even on the need to provide proper treatment to those affected by the disease," he said.
Responding to allegations by the DMK that the AIADMK had copied election promises, Palaniswami dismissed the charge."We have not copied the election manifesto. These points were already mentioned in our previous election manifesto. All schemes that were stopped during the AIADMK regime will be implemented again. The DMK had stopped it, and now laptops are being distributed for electoral purposes, to secure students' votes," he added.
Palaniswami further alleged a deterioration in law and order in Tamil Nadu. "Drug abuse has increased in Tamil Nadu. Crime has increased in Tamil Nadu," he said, attributing the situation to administrative failures. "The reason for this is the failure to appoint a permanent Director General of Police (DGP)," he added.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu assembly witnessed high drama on Wednesday, the inaugural day of the first session of the year, with the Governor RN Ravi declining to read out the text prepared by the DMK government due to "inaccuracies" in it and "walking out" of the assembly.
Chief Minister MK Stalin said in the assembly later that the Governor had "once again disregarded constitutional provisions and long-standing legislative traditions" and that DMK would talk with like-minded political parties to seek a constitutional amendment in Parliament to dispense with the Governor's Address procedure if such violations persist.
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