A corporate mafia government has been ruling the State, alleges Stalin

DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday alleged that a “corporate mafia government”, controlled by an unidentified individual, was ruling Tamil Nadu.

“Really, it is a mysterious government. There is no transparency and everything is being decided behind the scenes,” he said while campaigning for DMK candidate I. Paranthaman in the Madurantakam Assembly constituency.

Mr. Stalin said the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which had promised to provide a clean government, had inducted former AIADMK Ministers facing corruption cases into the party after “washing” them in “washing machines”. “Can a government that cancelled the Parandur Airport Project be called a clean government? They sought to hand over Chennai airport to private operators and covered up the letter written to the Prime Minister. Is this a clean government?” he asked. He alleged that a “mafia” had taken control of the government with the intention of diverting investments to Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Stalin also criticised Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay for not taking a position on the demand by several political parties, barring the BJP and its allies, for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and their protests over the issue. “Over 13 crore people have been denied their voting rights, and in many States, the outcome of the election has been stolen. Can a person who does not express his opinion on these issues be called a political leader? Even the leaders of his alliance parties are asking the same question,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said the “real face” of the TVK would soon be exposed and people would come to know who was in a “secret alliance” with the BJP at the Centre. Those who had joined the TVK too would eventually be “left in the lurch”, he said. He asserted that the DMK’s “only mistake” was that it had failed to take the TVK seriously. “We fought our ideological enemies and remained indifferent to the crowd of clowns,” he said.

He also attributed the DMK’s defeat in the Assembly election to the loss of votes caused by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “Lakhs of people lost their votes because of the SIR. We lost because of these reasons,” he said.

Mr. Stalin rejected the claim that there had been a wave in favour of the TVK. “If there had been a wave, it could have won at least 150 seats. It could not secure even 118 seats and formed the government with the support of political parties that were part of the DMK alliance,” he said.

The Chief Minister might speak in a high pitch, but he should acknowledge that the government had been formed with votes polled in favour of the DMK, Mr. Stalin said. Instead of relying on its allies, Mr. Vijay had “purchased” AIADMK MLAs and fielded them again in the byelection to increase the TVK’s tally, he alleged.

Calling upon voters to remain vigilant, Mr. Stalin said they had been “taken for a ride” by the candidate they had elected. “In the name of change, the voters got only disappointment,” he added.