The president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), KS Alagiri, launched a scathing attack on the BJP’s Tamil Nadu president, K Annamalai. Alagiri criticized Annamalai for making allegations against the DMK regime and questioned his credentials to speak about corruption in Tamil Nadu. Alagiri accused Annamalai of attempting to discredit the Tamil Nadu government by making baseless allegations against the state ministers while ignoring the achievements of the nine-year Modi regime at the national level. He argued that Annamalai seemed unable to tolerate the success of the INDIA bloc’s approach to secularism in the state.
Citing a study by Oxfam, Alagiri highlighted the exponential growth of wealth among a few industrialists, particularly the top 10% of the country who own a staggering 77% of the nation’s wealth. He pointed out that in 2022, 73% of the assets generated in the country went to the wealthiest 1%, leaving 67 crore Indians with only 1% of the assets.
Alagiri alleged that the asset values of prominent industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani had seen astronomical growth, with Ambani’s assets increasing by 400% and Adani’s by a staggering 1,830% in the past eight years. He also raised questions about Adani’s rise from the 609th position in 2014 to becoming the third richest person in the world by 2022, implying a connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support.
Furthermore, Alagiri raised concerns about the BJP’s financial activities, particularly their fundraising through electoral bonds, which reportedly amounted to Rs 5,272 crore, allegedly involving Adani and Ambani. He challenged Annamalai’s credentials to discuss corruption in Tamil Nadu in light of these allegations.
The TNCC president also brought up the unfulfilled promises made by the BJP in 2014, particularly the commitment to create two crore jobs annually. He argued that if the Prime Minister’s promise had been kept, at least 18 crore jobs should have been created in the last nine years. However, official figures show an increase in the unemployment rate by 23%, reaching a 45-year high in the country. Alagiri claimed that approximately 12.5 crore people had lost their jobs in the past eight years, with rural areas witnessing a 57% job loss and urban areas facing an 80% decrease in employment opportunities.