Stalin questions AIADMK’s silence on fund cut and rechristening of MGNREGA as VBGRAMG

Slamming the principal Opposition AIADMK over its studied silence on the Modi government rechristening of the MGNREGA and abdicating financial responsibility for the rural employment programme, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday asked whether the party would support it in total subservience to the BJP.

The chief minister, demanding AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to be explicit on the party’s stand, in a post on his ‘X’ handle, asked, “Habitually betraying farmers despite sporting a green towel (a symbol of being a farmer), is he not aware of this? What is the stand of the Opposition AIADMK on #VBGRAMG which is a severe blow to the rural poor?”

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Further, he wondered “whether EPS will support this retrograde step to propitiate Amit Shah as was the case with #ThreeFarmLaws, #CAA.” The AIADMK had earlier supported the three farm laws which were eventually withdrawn following farmers’ protest and the Citizenship Amendment Act. The DMK had opposed both.

“Erasing the name of Gandhiji from MGNREGA, they have rechristened it with a tongue-twister in Hindi. Why such a hesitation to oppose it while having the name of Anna (Dravidian icon CN Annadurai), who had vanquished Hindi imposition, in the party?” read the post, adding that the new scheme with its stipulations has come under the Union Government’s control despite the States having to bear financial responsibility. “Does the AIADMK accept this? Would your late leader Jayalalithaa have acquiesced to it?” was his poser to EPS.

“As a punishment for Tamil Nadu which has successfully eradicated poverty, we are faced with the danger of the scheme coming to an end. How will the Hon’ble Leader of the Opposition (EPS) extend support for this? When you bend to this level, why retain the name of Anna in your party – Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam?” he further asked.