Chennai: Union minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday alleged that there was ‘high level’ of corruption in Tamil Nadu and blamed chief minister M K Stalin as well as his family for it. He also alleged that DMK and Vijay are hand in glove to split opposition votes. “The Stalin family is totally responsible for the high level of corruption, whether it is M K Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Sabarisan or Kanimozhi; it is one family rule that has taken every aspect of Tamil Nadu’s economic development to the lowest we have ever seen,” Goyal said at a BJP meeting in Mylapore. Citing alleged irregularities in state-linked projects, including illegal liquor sales through Tasmac and procurement of electrical equipment like transformers and smart meters, he said TN people have suffered in the last five years at the hands of ‘sand, land and liquor mafias operating under one family.’ Goyal said the BJP’s white paper Tamil Nadu economy released a day back showed the ‘mess’ that was created by the DMK govt. Targeting Udhayanidhi, Goyal said TN was not ready to hand over the power to Udhayanidhi, ‘who neither respects religion nor understands culture.’ Training his guns on TVK president Vijay, Goyal said the actor – politician was propped up by DMK to split the opposition votes. “I think the DMK and Vijay are hand in glove because you can see the fixed match between the two parties. When the DMK realises that they are going to lose this election, they prop up Vijay so that the votes against them can get divided,” he said. However, many actors have entered politics and crowds do turn out, but they do not convert into votes, he said citing Kamal Haasan as an example. Goyal instructed BJP workers to intensify work at the booth level. “Do not let the votes get divided. All the votes against DMK should go to AIADMK and NDA, to the entire family of NDA candidates,” he added. He said that if an NDA govt is elected, a massive slum redevelopment programme will be launched in TN so that people get proper housing.
