PM unable to reply to issues raised by Opposition in Parliament: Stalin

CHENNAI

Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unable to reply to any of the issues raised by the Opposition in Parliament and was enacting a drama, DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday said 2024 will witness a new dawn for India, like 2021 did for Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at a wedding of a party functionary in Chennai, Mr. Stalin said, “You can see what is happening in the Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister is not able to reply to anything. Are they [the Centre] answering any of the questions raised by our Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu?”

There was no answer on Mr. Baalu’s demand for reviving the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project; the electoral promise to create employment for over two crore people annually; and the assurance to bring back money stashed away abroad and credit ₹15 lakh into every Indian citizen’s bank account, Mr. Stalin said.

“No need for ₹15 lakh. Did they credit at least ₹15,000? No,” he said.

Party MP Kanimozhi had raised questions over the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai, Mr. Stalin said, and recalled that it was announced in the 2021 Budget, and Mr. Modi himself had unveiled the foundation stone for the project. “It is not known what has happened on this front so far,” he said.

There were no answers to questions raised by former Union Minister A. Raja, Mr. Stalin said, and pointed to DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran’s complaint that there was no quorum in the Lok Sabha.

When party MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian questioned the delay in granting assent to a legislation adopted by the Assembly for a ban on online gambling, she was given irrelevant replies, Mr. Stalin said. Another MP, Tiruchi Siva, had aptly captured the scene in his speech, he added.