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States » SouthPosted at: May 21 2025 6:33PM


Stalin to attend Niti Aayog meet in Delhi, slams EPS for attributing motives

Chennai, May 21 (UNI) After boycotting the last meeting citing neglect of
the State by the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will be visiting Delhi
to take part in the Niti Aayog meeting on May 24, even as he slammed
Opposition AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami attributing motives
to the visit.
In a statement here on Wendesday, Mr Stalin said he was going to Delhi
to secure the state's rights.
Stating that he stood firm in his principles, Mr Stalin asserted that he would
fight and secure the due funds for the state from the Centre.
He said the State government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court
to secure the state's rights and against the Centre's refusal to release
Rs 2,152 crore due funds to TN under the SSA scheme for the school
education sector as the state rejected the NEP-2020, which envisaged
implementation of the three-language formula and imposition of Hindi,
as against the long followed two-language policy in the State.
Taking a dig at Mr Palaniswami for attributing motives to his Delhi visit,
Mr Stalin said he would remain ideologically firm and fight for the rights
of the state.
Seeking to know why his visit to Delhi pains Mr Palaniswami, who is also
the AIADMK General Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition in the
State Assembly, the Chief Minister said "from Sasikala to Amit Shah, the
person may change, but his (Palaniswami) habit of crawling and prostrating
under the table has never changed."
"Even before the saliva on the tongue that declared that there was no alliance
with the BJP, could dry, Mr Palaniswami, who had transformed into 'Pulikesi'
(a comic Tamil movie character) after a single raid and rushed to wave the
white flag, has no shame in accusing me of surrendering", Mr Stalin, said,
strongly reacting to his criticisms.
"This hand of Stalin is one that holds the red-black flag of the DMK. The hand
lifted by Perarignar (DMK Stalwart and late CM C N Annadurai). The hand that
walked holding Kalaignar’s (DMK Leader and late CM Karunanidhi’s) hand. I
will always hold the flag for rights. I will never crawl,” he said.
"Even today, I have filed a case in the Supreme Court for the rights of Tamil Nadu,”
Stalin said and asserted that “I will stand firm in my principles. I will fight and secure
Tamil Nadu’s rightful share of funds".
Mr Palaniswami has criticised Mr Stalin’s decision to attend the NITI Aayog meeting
in Delhi and alleged that it was intended for personal gain rather than for the larger
welfare of Tamil Nadu.
He questioned the sudden change in his stance and recalled that Mr Stalin had earlier
boycotted the NITI Aayog meetings in protest against the Union Government’s alleged
neglect of Tamil Nadu.
Hinting at the recent Enforcement Directorate raids which had unearthed Rs 1,000 crore
irregularities in the state-owned TASMAC, the Opposition leader questioned the timing
of the CM’s visit to the National Capital.
“He boasted that he was boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting because the Centre was
ignoring TN. Now he’s flying to Delhi!”, Palaniswami wrote on X, tagging the CM’s
handle.
He did not go when the people of the state needed it, but now he's going for the sake
of his family to wave the white flag for a truce,” Mr Palaniswami alleged.
UNI GV 1825
Tags: #Stalin to attend Niti Aayog meet in Delhi# slams EPS for attributing motives
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