Chennai, Jun 21 (IANS): Terming the first policy address of Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit as 'disappointing', former Chief Minister and leader of opposition in the Assembly, E. Palaniswami, said on Monday that the government is taking different positions before and after the elections.
Palaniswami said that in the interim budget which his government had presented in the Assembly in February, the fiscal position of the state was made available to the public through the media.
He said that the DMK, despite knowing the state's fiscal position well, had claimed during the elections that it would lower the price of auto fuel after assuming office, creating a misunderstanding among the people.
The former Chief Minister said that the AIADMK government did not keep the exact fiscal position of the state in hiding, and had made it public.
AIADMK chief coordinator and deputy leader of opposition, O. Panneerselvam, said in a statement on Monday that ever since the DMK government assumed office, petrol and diesel prices have increased by Rs 5 and Rs 4, respectively.
Panneerselvam said that several electoral promises made by the DMK government were not mentioned in the Governor's policy address on Monday.
He said there was no mention of the monthly billing cycle of domestic electricity consumers or the pension scheme for government employees and teachers.
Pannerselvam said that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in his pet scheme 'Ungal Thoguthiyil Muthalamaichar' (CM in your constituency) had claimed that the state government has disposed of 63,500 petitions, but no details were given on the total number of petitions which were received.
AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran also came out against the Governor's address and said that the government is not clear on the Mekedatu Dam issue, National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and many other matters, including tax on auto fuel.