AIADMK co-coordinator and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami urged the State government to increase the solatium for families of the seven victims of the Cuddalore drowning incident to ₹10 lakhs.

Speaking to presspersons on Monday at Edappadi, he said the incident was unfortunate and urged the State government to display caution boards at waterbodies to avert such incidents in future.

Answering questions about the party’s alliance with the BJP, Mr. Palaniswami said, “We have a good relationship with the BJP and there was no issue with that.”

He listed out the schemes brought by the AIADMK for the State and to Salem district. “But Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in a public meeting at Attur on May 24 that we did not implement any schemes, including in my constituency. The Chief Minister is spreading wrong information,” he said, adding that to distract [people] from the government’s failures, the DMK had slapped cases against AIADMK functionaries.

Accusing the DMK government of not fulfilling its election promises, Mr. Palaniswami said the DMK showed double standards on issues such as NEET, reduction of fuel prices and implementing the old pension scheme. Mr. Stalin spoke about various demands before Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai recently but he failed to mention the demands related to people’s welfare, he charged.

“More than 30 lakh weavers are affected by the hike in yarn price. But the State government had not taken steps to reduce the price. While I met the Prime Minister in the airport recently, I requested him to take steps in this regard,“ he added.

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Printable version | Jun 6, 2022 7:36:43 pm | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/govt-must-increase-solatium-for-cuddalore-drowning-victims-eps/article65500317.ece