Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged that the Vijay government failed to fulfil its election promises and was merely renaming schemes introduced by the previous DMK administration.
Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Wednesday gave the Vijay-led TVK government’s Budget a “big zero”, alleging that several schemes announced by the administration were merely initiatives of the previous DMK government repackaged under different names.
“The marks for this Budget are a big zero,” Udhayanidhi told reporters, accusing the government of failing to deliver on its election promises while taking credit for schemes introduced during the DMK’s tenure.
“A lot of election promises were made. We have been asking when these promises will be fulfilled. But in this Budget, they have simply stuck a sticker on all the projects brought in by the DMK government,” he said.
The DMK leader alleged that several initiatives unveiled by the TVK government were essentially existing schemes that had been renamed, questioning why the administration needed committees and meetings if it was merely rebranding earlier programmes.
“It is just a name change, but the scheme remains the same. Why do you need committees and meetings just to change the names of schemes?” he asked.
Udhayanidhi’s criticism of the budget came a day after his arrest over remarks concerning actor Trisha, which he described as a “diversionary tactic” by the Vijay government.
He alleged that the ruling dispensation was systematically targeting DMK leaders and cadres, claiming that police entered his Chennai residence on Tuesday and took him into custody before transporting him nearly 400 km by road to Thanjavur, where a case had been registered against him.
“Yesterday, they barged into my house and arrested me. Yesterday’s drama was nothing but a diversionary tactic,” Udhayanidhi, son of former Chief Minister MK Stalin, said.
“It is not just me; all DMK MLAs are being targeted. AIADMK MLAs are being purchased and Gen Z DMK cadres are being arrested,” he alleged.
Udhayanidhi was arrested over an alleged “double-meaning” remark purportedly insulting Trisha. Rejecting the allegation, he maintained that his comments had been taken out of context and that he was speaking solely about the need to secure Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu’s farmers.
The DMK leader had earlier claimed that around 3,000 police personnel were deployed during his transfer from Chennai to Thanjavur and accused the authorities of treating him “like a terrorist”.
