The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee will fight the upcoming local body polls in nine districts as part of the DMK alliance and there is no change in the plan, TNCC president K.S. Alagiri has said.
The party held deliberations on the local body polls at Satyamurthy Bhavan on Monday. “We have decided to start the work from today itself to ensure a significant victory in the local body polls and to work in coordination with the alliance parties,” Mr. Alagiri told reporters.
Asked about the seats it would seek, he said the party would put forth its views on the matter. “We got 25 seats in the Assembly poll and won 18. We had the highest winning percentage,” he said.
Mr. Alagiri also criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for claiming that the government was not able to reduce fuel prices due to the cost of oil bonds issued by the erstwhile UPA government.
“There is no connection between selling bonds and fuel prices. What Ms. Sitharaman is saying is wrong. Governments normally take loans and there is a plan on how to repay it. [For instance] when the Tamil Nadu government takes a loan, there is a repayment schedule. The repayment is done as per the schedule.”
Mr. Alagiri said the Centre had raised cess on fuel, and that was the reason for the hike in fuel prices. “The fact is that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has reduced the price of petrol which is benefiting a lot of people. Prime Minister Modi is unable to do it. Ms. Sitharaman must tell the Prime Minister that,” Mr. Alagiri said.
He felicitated the TNCC human rights wing head Mahatma Srinivasan and 55 others who had undertaken an 11-day bicycle journey from Chennai to Kanniyakumari to protest against the historically high fuel prices in the country.
