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Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, on Saturday campaigned for the second time in the Nochipalayam area of Dharapuram, seeking support for party candidate Suganya.
Addressing the rally, the former Deputy Chief Minister said that although the people had not given the DMK victory in the last election, the party had represented the Dharapuram constituency in the Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2026. "Even though you did not give us victory last time and we lost the opportunity to win, from 2021 to 2026, we represented the Dharapuram constituency in the Legislative Assembly. You elected our former Minister and sister Kayalvizhi Selvaraj as your MLA," he said. Recalling the development works undertaken during that period, Udhayanidhi said, "Under our Dravidian Model government and the DMK, a Government Arts and Science College was constructed at a cost of 12 crore. A Government Hospital was constructed at a cost of 24 crore under the leadership of our leader and the Dravidian Model government. Five check dams were constructed at a cost of 40 crore. A market was established at a cost of 2 crore. House-site pattas were distributed to around 9,000 beneficiaries." Turning his attack on the present state government, the DMK leader claimed that some parties that were part of the DMK-led alliance had earlier approached party president M.K. Stalin, urging that Governor's Rule not be imposed and that Tamil Nadu not be forced into another election. "Some of the parties that were part of our alliance came and told our leader that Governor's Rule should not be imposed and that Tamil Nadu should not be forced to face another election. They sought permission from our leader and went ahead. That is why I repeatedly say that this government is in power because of the support given by our leader," he said. Udhayanidhi alleged that the Chief Minister was not satisfied with that support and subsequently engineered a split in the AIADMK. "But apparently, that was not enough for this Chief Minister. What did he do? He split the AIADMK into two factions and allegedly bought the support of around 10 to 15 MLAs by offering them inducements," he alleged. He further claimed that the government was surviving on the strength of these MLAs and had allegedly attempted to win over more legislators. "Today, this government is functioning with their support. Even that was not enough, so he allegedly went on to lure away some more MLAs," he said. Taking a swipe at the Chief Minister's expected campaign pitch, Udhayanidhi said, "The present Chief Minister will say that the DMK and AIADMK give money to voters in exchange for votes and will campaign by alleging that they purchased votes by paying money to the electorate. But do you know what he has done? Instead of buying votes, he has gone about buying MLAs." The bypolls will be held in Dharapuram and Madurantakam assembly constituencies on October 6, with counting of votes scheduled on October 9. ()
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