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Niti Aayog meeting in nation’s interest, says Stalin
The DMK chief also dismissed Opposition AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami’s claims that Stalin attended the meeting because there was some ‘sudden problem’
Political stance is different from cooperating with the government for the benefit of the country, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said on Sunday, defending his decision to attend the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day ago.
The DMK chief also dismissed Opposition AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami’s claims that Stalin attended the meeting because there was some “sudden problem”, in a veiled reference to ED raids in a money-laundering probe against state-run Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC).
“Political stance is different. Cooperating with the government for the benefit of the country is different. That is why, I participated in the Niti Aayog meeting of chief ministers on the future development of India held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister,” Stalin said on Sunday.
“I informed the Prime Minister about the situation of Tamil Nadu, and directly emphasized the plans for Tamil Nadu and the pending ones. Just as the DMK will not give up the interest of the country, it will never give up the rights of the states,” he added.
Stalin has been at loggerheads with the BJP-led Union government over a host of issues, including proposed delimitation based on population, three-language policy under the Nation Education Policy (NEP), as well as alleged lack of central share of funds to the southern state.
AIADMK chief and leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly Palaniswami hit out at Stalin.
“For the past three years, he (Stalin) boycotted the meeting depriving Tamil Nadu of vital opportunities. Had he participated earlier and presented the demands of Tamil Nadu, the state could have benefited. But he did not represent people’s needs at the time,” Palaniswami told reporters in Coimbatore. “He went because there is a problem now. We will know what exactly he discussed with the PM only if the Prime Minister himself reveals it.”
