Chennai, Jul 24 (PTI) Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Wednesday said Chief Minister M K Stalin’s decision to boycott the the July 27 NITI Aayog meet in Delhi is quite ‘theatrical.’ Annamalai said the Union Budget was designed to benefit people with low incomes, women, youth, and farmers. However, Stalin’s decision to boycott the meeting, “on the basis that the budget did not mention Tamil Nadu by name, is quite theatrical.” In a post on X, Annamalai said the Chief Minister is trying to “mislead the people into believing that only the states mentioned in the budget speech will receive benefits, ignoring that the previous Congress-DMK UPA govt failed to include Tamil Nadu in 6 budget speeches between 2004 and 2014.” Is Stalin implying that no schemes were provided for Tamil Nadu during those years? the BJP leader asked.
Furthermore, Annamalai asked: “Is he unaware that between 2014 and 2024, under the BJP Government, TN received ten times more through budget announcements than in years under the UPA Government? What is the TN CM hoping to achieve by choosing to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting aimed at addressing state needs? The BJP leader claimed that DMK MPs, elected to speak for their constituencies in Parliament failed to address any constituency-related issues over the past five years.
He urged the CM to give up “such empty theatrics aimed at self-promotion,” and instead pursue constructive politics for the development of Tamil Nadu.
Also, Annamalai alleged Stalin “…has been afraid to go to Niti Aayog meetings for the last 2 years citing flimsy reasons…” Chief Minister Stalin said on July 23 that Tamil Nadu has been completely ignored in the Union Budget and in order to condemn it, he said he will boycott the NITI Aayog meet to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Terming the budget a ‘big disappointment’, the CM had said he felt that it is appropriate to boycott the NITI Aayog meet, since the Centre has totally ignored Tamil Nadu. PTI VGN ROH
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