Do you have the guts to make NEET exemption precondition for alliance with BJP: Stalin asks EPS
Stalin posed a series of questions to the Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami during the debate on Demand for Grants for the Health Department.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
‘EPS betrayed farmers; AIADMK a weed that needs to be removed'
1 2 3 Erode: Chief minister M K Stalin charged that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has betrayed the farming community. Addressing the farmers after inaugurating the three day agriculture expo at Vijayamangalam in Erode district on Wednesday, Stalin said AIADMK was like a weed that needs to be removed. "As farmers, you must be aware that weeds that grow among crops should be removed,'' Stalin said. "Recall the days when you were forced to hold protests to get your demands fulfilled when the AIADMK was in power,'' he said, adding that life was a struggle for farmers during the AIADMK period and there were farmer suicides. "The circumstances have changed now,'' Stalin said. Continuing his criticism of the AIADMK, Stalin said when farmers in New Delhi protested the three agricultural bills that the BJP brought, EPS had supported those laws, which was a betrayal of TN farmers. Calling upon farmers to back DMK in 2026 assembly election, Stalin said the Dravidian model govt's version 2.0 will win again for sure in the poll and would continue to safeguard the interests of farmers. Stalin said his administration renamed the department as Agriculture and Farmers Welfare department and also presented an exclusive budget for agriculture sector. As a result of the emphasis on agriculture, TN has achieved a food grain production of 458 lakh metric tonnes. 'The yield of food grains has risen from 2,235 kg per hectare in 2020-21 to 2,871 kg per hectare in 2024-25," he said. Sharing statistics, Stalin said the cooperative sector has disbursed 62,352 in crop and livestock maintenance loans to 8.1 million farmers, special health camps for livestock have been organized, benefiting 2.6 million farmers and two lakh free agricultural electricity connections have been given across state. Stalin later proceeded to Salem where he received petitions and greeted people. He was felicitated by the public and party workers. He also honoured requests from students for selfies. At Mettur, he presided over a meeting with party functionaries.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
CPM demands more seats, secy continues tirade against DMK
Chennai: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam has reiterated the party's intent to seek more seats in the DMK alliance in the 2026 assembly election. "Contesting in more seats is as important as being in the DMK front to defeat the BJP alliance," he told reporters in Chennai on Wednesday. The CPM has signalled its desire to contest in more seats in the upcoming election over the past few days. Shanmugam reiterated that CPM will contest in more seats in the 2026 assembly election and that it will not be content with the six seats as in 2021. Nevertheless, Shanmugam said the CPM would continue to be in the DMK front. He said the focus was to keep the BJP alliance away from power in Tamil Nadu. The only party that has the strength to defeat the AIADMK-BJP front was DMK, he said. Shanmugam launched CPM's public campaign in Chennai "to highlight the failures" of Prime minister Narendra Modi-led BJP govt at the Centre in controlling price rise, reducing unemployment and protecting constitutional mandates and federal principles. Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the campaign, Shanmugam continued his critical approach towards the DMK, Shanmugam said he was not sure whether the DMK has fulfilled 98.5% of the poll promises as claimed by DMK MP A Raja. "DMK has not fulfilled its poll promise of providing monthly electricity bills as mentioned in its manifesto. There are many such and how can they say that they have fulfilled 98.5% of their promises," Shanmugam asked. Raja had said that DMK fulfilled its poll promises except that of providing family pension to the govt employees. Shanmugam wondered whether all the unfulfilled promises come under the remaining 1% of the poll promises as claimed by the DMK. Despite being part of the DMK front, Shanmugam has been critical of the state govt. On Tuesday, Shanmugam called DMK govt 'capitalist' and said the DMK cannot win on its own. Meanwhile, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan also said that it was natural for any party to aim for more seats. "But, ultimately, the DMK would allot an appropriate number of seats," he said.
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
S. Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss: Father, son, and a war of words
In 2011, during the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss visited DMK leader M. Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence to invite him for a family wedding. Karunanidhi did not miss the opportunity to rope the PMK into the DMK-led alliance, even though the PMK had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as part of the AIADMK alliance. The PMK had failed to win a single seat in that election, despite being considered a powerful ally capable of tilting the scales of victory for any alliance. Yet, this perception of the party being a strong ally led Karunanidhi to generously allot 30 seats to the PMK and seal the alliance. However, the PMK managed to secure only three seats, proving that its decline had actually begun as early as 2009. Dr. Ramadoss, a medical doctor by qualification, has always played his political cards carefully, switching alliances from one election to another, but failing to gauge the shifting sands of Tamil Nadu politics. In 2009, the PMK suffered defeat by aligning with the AIADMK. It was routed again in the 2011 polls. The emergence of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, led by actor Vijayakant, in 2005, also eclipsed the PMK's influence in many areas. The party has never been able to reclaim its past glory, despite having been part of the Union government from 1998 to 2009. During that time, Anbumani Ramadoss, Dr. Ramadoss's son, held the health portfolio (2004-09). Today, despite its organisational strength and the support of the Vanniyars, its core base, the party finds itself at a crossroads due to the growing rift between Dr. Ramadoss and Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss. In the 1980s, Dr. Ramadoss mobilised the Vanniyars by championing their claim for Most Backward Class status. After the DMK government led by Karunanidhi granted 20% reservation by grouping together several communities, including the Vanniyars, Ramadoss founded the PMK. In a symbolic gesture reminiscent of Piloo Mody, Dr. Ramadoss sent Panruti S. Ramachandran, the PMK's lone MLA in 1991, to the Assembly riding an elephant — the symbol on which he won. The party performed well in the 1996, 2001, and 2006 Assembly elections. The PMK entered the national stage when Dr. Ramadoss joined the AIADMK-BJP alliance in 1998 and secured a Union Cabinet berth for Dalit Ezhilmalai, the party's general secretary. He remained with the BJP even after Jayalalithaa toppled the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. This paid off as the BJP-DMK combine made good gains in 1999. The PMK was allotted two ministerial berths in the BJP-led government. In 2004, along with the DMK, it joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, and Anbumani Ramadoss became a Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. Dr. Ramadoss, who once acted as a bridge between the Vanniyars and Dalits, also sought to shed the image of being a solely Vanniyar party by espousing Tamil identity and working closely with Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan and Tamil nationalist leader Pazha Nedumaran. However, successive electoral defeats forced him to take refuge in caste-based politics. He even ran a campaign targeting the Scheduled Castes (SCs), accusing their youth of wearing jeans and sunglasses and luring girls from other communities for their wealth. In 2012, the tragic death of Dharmapuri Ilavarasan, an SC man, who married Divya, a Vanniyar woman, caused deep damage to the PMK's image. Since then, it has not been able to shed the 'Vanniyar party' image. The current war of words between father and son has crossed all limits and shocked observers who have followed the PMK for decades. Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss had always said that his father is his role model and has acknowledged his organisational skills. The absence of political power and influence seems to have made Dr. Ramadoss desperate and angry. He is probably making a last-ditch effort to secure a stable future for the party as the Tamil Nadu political space is too crowded. His ego does not permit even his son to interfere with his schemes. He knows well that Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, who rose swiftly within the party ranks, could overshadow him, and he is not prepared for that. Neither his family members nor outsiders, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue S. Gurumurthy, can convince the unreconstructed Dr. Ramadoss.
