TN CM slams DMK, dubs Stalin a 'statement hero' on corruption allegations against ruling AIADMK

Salem (TN): Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday attacked the DMK and its leader MK Stalin, terming him a 'statement hero', over repeated allegations of corruption against the ruling dispensation, seeking to remind it of the "very big" 2G spectrum allocation scam.

DMK MPs Kanimozhi and A Raja, also former Telecom Minister, were earlier accused in the scam but acquitted by a special court. The CBI has since appealed against the lower court verdict in the Delhi High Court.

Speaking to reporters here, Palaniswami also defended the Centre's contentious recent farm laws, against which farmers have been staging a massive protest near Delhi.


Refuting Stalin's allegations of corruption and scam, especially in government tenders, Palaniswami said due processes were being followed and ruled out any irregularities.

"The 2G spectrum (allocation) scam was a very big scam. The amount of Rs 1.76 lakh crore (the alleged loss) is equivalent to Tamil Nadu's budget. It happened when they were in power at the Centre with the Congress," he said.

"(The then) Congress government took action and he (Raja) was put in jail," Palaniswami said and questioned how the opposition party could now make allegations against the AIADMK government.

He also questioned the "first come first serve basis" of spectrum allocation then, an aspect that was scrutinised.

"Such a big scam happened and they are targeting the AIADMK government to conceal this," he said.

Training his guns against Stalin, he lampooned him for "issuing statements daily sitting inside a room" and dubbed him as a "Statement Hero."

"He is desperate that he could not capture power and this (allegations by Stalin) is a result of that," the AIADMK Co-Coordinator said.

He said the erstwhile DMK government "is the only one in the country to be dismissed for corruption" and therefore Stalin had no right to talk about graft.

On the protest by farmers against Centre's new farm laws, Palaniswami reiterated it did not affect the ryots and said it protected them from price fluctuation, among others.

Farmers could now sell their produce anywhere in the country, he added.

The chief minister quipped the BJP workers should be highlighting all these aspects and asked them to take the facts to people.

He also said he has not received any negative feedback from farmer unions in Tamil Nadu about the legislations.