Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday flayed the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in his maiden speech and assured of strict action against anyone involved in corruption.
The chief minister said that corruption has been taking place not only under Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) — a state-government operated liquor shops — under the name of “party funds” but also in many other government departments.
“I am saying it even now. We will not touch a single paisa from people’s money. We would not let any one touch it and if anyone does, we would not let them get away with it. Nor will we spare anyone involved,” he said in his speech under the motion of thanks to June 18 Governor Rajendra Arlekar’s address. “As each corruption comes to light, every single mask will fail. A lot of people are shaking with fear but they are still slandering us,” he added.
As the chief minister was speaking, leader of opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and his party MLAs stood up and raised objections and later staged a walk-out from the assembly.
On the objection raised by the opposition parties over singing the National Anthem twice in the state assembly during when the Governor’s address, the chief minister highlighted that on August 2, 2021, during the centenary celebration of the state legislature in which President unveiled the portrait of former CM M Karunandhi, the National Anthem was sung twice and ahead of Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu (Tamil invocation song).
Speaker JCD Prabhakar intervened, “This indeed took place in this very House. I express my gratitude to the chief minister for providing this evidence at the appropriate time.”
Talking to the media outside the assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin refuted Vijay’s claims that National Anthem was sung ahead of Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu on the day of the unveiling of the portrait of M Karunidhi.
“It is unfortunate that a chief minister is not even aware of this protocol. That day, during the unveiling of the portrait, President took part and as per the protocol, the procedure were followed to sing National Anthem first and again later at the conclusion of the event,” Udhayanidhi Stalin claimed.
In his nearly hour long speech, Vijay hit out at the DMK for their alleged comments that the TVK government does not know anything how to govern. “It is true. We do not know anything. To the extent that our MLAs and ministers know how to serve the public but absolutely do not know how to plunder public money.”
“They do not know how to streamline tenders but only know how to grant promotions and conduct counselling for job transfers but certainly do not know how to extort money for those promotions and transfers,” he added.
On the frequent power cuts in the state, he said, “Even though Tamil Nadu is a power-surplus state, the reasons for these power cuts are the administrative mismanagement that occurred in the past, defects arising in electrical equipment and transformers, and the deliberate actions of certain individuals.”
To aid the cause, he said, to coordinate power supply restoration efforts and to swiftly rectify unexpected power outages that occur during the night, 10 high-level monitoring committees and 125 special power-restoration patrol vehicles have been deployed to monitor the situation 24 hours.
Attacking the chief minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin later said, “Thinking of the Assembly’s live camera as a cinema camera, he kept speaking, and the speaker went out of his way to ensure it was shot in a ‘single take’ without any interruptions from the opposition—this is completely unacceptable.”
“The chief minister’s reply contained nothing but baseless allegations and punch dialogues. there were absolutely no regarding power cuts or farmers issues”, the leader of the opposition said.
Meanwhile, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday took exceptions over the comments made by the chief minister C Joseph Vijay alleging that if any accusation was made in the Assembly, they should submit the proof to the Speaker before referring about it.
“However, this tradition is only being enforced for the Opposition, while it is not being followed by the ruling party. In my opinion, this should apply to the chief minister as well,” AIADMK MLA from Vedharanyam O S Manian told reporters. However, he did not specify what was the accusation that was made by the chief minister in the Assembly.
Referring to the incident on June 21 that occurred in a private seafood processing facility in which 9 people died as of Tuesday, Manian took potshots over the reply presented by the Minister in the Assembly on June 22.
Labour Welfare Minister J Mohamed Farvas informed the Assembly on Monday that the government would strictly enforce accountability based on the findings of the high-level enquiry committee in to the tragedy that occurred in the seafood processing unit in neighbouring Tiruvallur district.
“When that Minister was replying, did he answer with due respect for the lives lost? No. Did he speak with any concern regarding the condition of those admitted to the hospital for treatment? The Minister was delivering theatrical dialogues. What kind of situation is this? It is a pathetic state of affairs,” he said.
On the remarks made by the DMK about National Anthem being played twice on June 18 when the Governor Rajendra Arlekar presented his maiden address in the Assembly, he said, in the House they are continuously taking up debates over why the National Anthem was sung twice.
“This is not such a big issue. It is a standard protocol. If you ask what has been followed for ages: during a government function where VIPs participate, it is customary to sing the National Anthem at that government function.If the same function continues—even after the VIP leaves—the National Anthem will not be sung again there. Correct?”, he asked.
However, Manian said, “if it is announced that the function has concluded, then the National Anthem must be sung a second time. Is this not the standard practice? To go and debate this for two whole days?”
He further said, “No one seems to know how to explain this—neither the Ministers nor even the Speaker seems to know how to tell the House that this is the actual tradition.”
He observed that the ruling party side in the Assembly still has a lot to learn, and there are many traditions and rules they need to understand and follow.
