DMK president M.K. Stalin on Sunday said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami should immediately apologise to the people of Tamil Nadu for his party’s support to the three Bills on agriculture reforms.
“An apology alone will justify his position and offer temporary protection,” he said.
In a statement here, Mr Stalin recalled AIADMK Rajya Sabha member S.R. Balasubramoniyan’s speech rejecting the Chief Minister’s six-page statement in support of the Bills. “It is comic that the AIADMK supported the Bill in the Lok Sabha and opposed it in the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Palaniswami should seek an apology by telling the people that he had sacrificed the interest of farmers to save him and his Cabinet colleagues,” Mr Stalin said.
The DMK leader said the BJP could offer a “safety ring” to the Chief Minister for the next six months on corruption charges. “But he cannot escape the people’s verdict,” Mr Stalin said.
Accusing the Chief Minister of becoming an apologist for the Centre and for corporate houses by his support for the three Bills, Mr. Stalin said as a Chief Minister, Mr. Palaniswami’s stand set a very wrong precedent. “A total of 13 political parties including allies of the BJP are opposing the Bills. Only the AIADMK and three more political parties are supporting the Bills. Mr. Palaniswami should have apologised with folded hands to the farmers that he was left with no option as he has to to protect himself and his Cabinet colleagues from corruption cases,” he said.
Mr. Stalin claimed that instead of reading all the Bills carefully before issuing a statement, the Chief Minister had chosen to issue a statement issued by a ghost-writer. “It is a totally meaningless act to say that the Bills will benefit the farmers,” he said.
Reacting to the Chief Minister’s argument that the removal of the stock-holding limit would prevent corporates from hoarding, Mr. Stalin said it was not only a blatant lie, but a design to support the commercial conspiracies of corporate houses.
Mr. Stalin also cited an editorial in The Hindu, ‘Market Failure’ that said, “When Bihar removed the APMC system, markets suffered loss of free revenue, with no significant private investments... Rather than opt for heavy centralisation, the emphasis should be on empowering farmers through State Farmers Commissions to bring out a speedy government response to issues.”
