The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released on Monday a list of more than 100 people who are reportedly connected to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and have a criminal background.
Calling it the “The Crime Munnetra Kazhagam”, K. Annamalai, the State president of the BJP, told the media in Coimbatore that the DMK named people at random claiming that they were affiliated to the BJP and were involved in crimes. However, the BJP has released “an authentic document” listing more than 100 people with their photo, the crime they had committed, and the date of the crime. “They were involved in major crimes after the DMK came to power in 2021,” he said.
Tamil Nadu has a large number of youth (aged between 15 and 29) who are unemployed, according to data available for 2022-2023. This is more than the All India level of 10 %. In Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra it is 5.1 %, 8.5 % and 10.9 % respectively, he said. The DMK should accept this. The growth of MSMEs in the State has reduced and the Foreign Direct Investment that the State gets compared with many others is also less, he claimed.
When asked about possibility of joining with the AIADMK for the Assembly elections, he said the NDA leaders in the State were giving a clear message to the public that if there should be a change in Tamil Nadu, “those who created problems cannot solve it.” Only when those who did not create the problems come together can there be a change in the State, he emphasised.
On the allegation that power tariff has increased in Tamil Nadu because it signed an agreement with the Centre for the UDAY scheme, Mr. Annamalai said the scheme does not say the tariff should be hiked. The State has to meet certain criteria to get subsidies from the Centre. The DMK said in its election manifesto that it will introduce monthly billing of electricity consumption charges, but it has not done so yet. If an electricity consumer uses 200 units a month, he pays ₹450. But, when paying for 400 units for two months, it is Rs. 1,440. If the monthly consumption is 300 units, he pays ₹705 and for 600 units consumed for two months he now pays ₹2,940. A consumer will save a lot if monthly billing is introduced, he added.
