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‘Did not meet Adani’: Stalin in TN assembly

By, Chennai
Dec 11, 2024 04:15 AM IST

Chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday asserted that he did not meet Adani Group’s founder- chairman, Gautam Adani in Chennai

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday asserted that he did not meet Adani Group’s founder-chairman, Gautam Adani in Chennai. It was among several issues in which he defended himself against the opposition’s attack while questioning if the BJP would support a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) against Adani.

MK Stalin’s comments comes in the wake of the billionaire industrialist being indicted by a US court for bribery of Indian government officials in various states including Tamil Nadu (PTI)
MK Stalin’s comments comes in the wake of the billionaire industrialist being indicted by a US court for bribery of Indian government officials in various states including Tamil Nadu (PTI)

“Adani did not come to meet me. I have not met Adani either,” Stalin said responding to a question raised in the assembly by GK Mani, a leader of NDA ally, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).

He further said: “Electricity minister Senthil Balaji has already explained in a detailed manner about all the false news on Adani’s connection with Tamil Nadu. He is not here today so I am standing up and giving you a clarification.

READ | Tamil Nadu calls for cancellation of tungsten mining rights

INDIA bloc has asked for a JPC probe on the charges against Adani. My question to you PMK and BJP is, are you prepared to support us for a JPC?”

This comes in the wake of the billionaire industrialist being indicted by a US court for bribery of Indian government officials in various states including Tamil Nadu.

Balaji has responded twice on the issue stating that the DMK government has not signed any direct agreements with Adani but only with the Solar Power Corporation India (SECI) as directed by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

In November, PMK founder S Ramadoss alleged that Stalin and Adani had a secret meeting in Chennai in July at the former’s residence.

This came after reports emerged that Adani was in Chennai in July but no information has been made public about the purpose of the visit or whom he had met. When questioned about this, Stalin at the time had said that he doesn’t have to respond to jobless people.

Stalin also reiterated Balaji’s statement that there is no commercial link between the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) and the Adani Group companies.

On December 6, Balaji released a 10-page statement warning legal action against those spreading “rumours” that Stalin and Adani met.

Tamil Nadu signed an agreement with SECI to purchase 2,000MW of solar power from 2020 to 2021 and in 2023 that had been approved by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), Balaji had said.

In the assembly on Tuesday while responding to AIADMK’s accusation that the Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai district was opened without warning after cyclone Fengal, Stalin said that the DMK government had issued five warnings.

A political row had earlier erupted over the release of water from the dam after the Thenpennai River was in spate in the aftermath of the cyclone that had made landfall near Puducherry on November 30.

“Only after issuing five flood warnings, the water in Sathanur Dam was opened,” Stalin said.

After the assembly session, Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the annual family income limit set for the grant of post-matric and pre-matric scholarships for SC, ST and OBC students by the Government of India.

“In our view, increasing the annual income ceiling for post-matric and pre-matric from 2.5 lakhs to 8 lakh on par with that of the economically weaker sections is not only essential but also fully justified and warranted,” Stalin said.

Citing the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report, he said that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe students and certain Backward Communities remains significantly lower than other students.

“There is a stark difference in the GER of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, as compared to the general population. Therefore, it is imperative to facilitate their enrolment in larger numbers in higher education institutions. Providing post and pre-Matric scholarships will go a long way in increasing their enrolment in higher education.”

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Annamalai said that he would release the third part of the DMK files which would be a list of allegations of corruption. “We have released DMK Files parts 1 and 2. We are going to release DMK Files 3 and include their allies in this,” he told reporters. “Allies cannot escape. We are analysing tenders awarded in the past three years after the DMK formed the government.”

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