As the cyclone has passed, largely sparing Chennai while wreaking havoc in two coastal districts – Villupuram and Cuddalore – besidesPuducherry, a war of words erupted between the ruling DMK and the AIADMK on Sunday. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin was dismissive of his predecessor and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), who picked holes in the state government’s handling of the cyclone and the heavy rains, particularly in Chennai.

“It is habitual for him to level charges against the government. We do not considerthem fit for a response. Also, there is no need to respond. It is notnecessary as we are focused on our work. We work not only for those who voted for us but also for those who did not cast their vote for us without any discrimination,” he told reporters after an inspection of the relief and rescue works at his assembly constituency, Kolathur.EPS has alleged that the DMK government had failed in rain and flood mismanagement. “Photo shoots of the DMK Ministers about Storm WaterDrainage are nothing but empty advertisements as evidenced by the flooded Chennai roads,” he had said in an ‘X’ post yesterday.

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Stung by the chief minister being dismissive of him, EPS said in another post “As the Leader of the Opposition, it is my duty to highlight the pathetic condition under the DMK government. The government too is duty bound to rectify by taking appropriate action.But, we can expect only such a response from the Chief Minister who is not capable. Further, we cannot expect from the DMK decency orcommitment to the people’s welfare and the Chief Minister’s recentremarks are proof enough for this.”Maintaining that there is no water logging anywhere in the state including Chennai, he said, “Once the rain stops, flooding would also recede. It is natural that there will be water logging when it rains.Visuals of flooding in the media are old ones. Only you (the media)are telling this. It is difficult to predict the trajectory of the cyclone and we are taking precautions based on the weather report.”“We are closer to a permanent solution” was his response to a questionas to why the state government should turn into battle mode for everycyclone in the absence of a lasting solution.

On the situation in Villupuram, he said, “It was unexpected thatVillupuram would be pounded and experience such an extreme downpour.Villupuram, Tindivanam, Marakkanam, and Mayilam have received up to 60cm of rainfall. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi has left forVillupuram. Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji and TransportMinister SS Sivasankar have been deputed to speed up the relief andrestoration works. Already K Ponmudy, the minister from the districtis there.”