Chennai: Slamming his arch rival and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for effecting a steep increase in bus fares and milk prices, DMK president M Karunanidhi on Friday said the move was tantamount to "cutting off oxygen supply" to common man.
In a sarcastic response to Jayalalithaa justifying the need to hike prices saying PSUs needed oxygen for their survival, he said, "She has not attempted to provide oxygen to the PSUs, but cut off the oxygen supply given to the public by hiking the milk price and bus fares.
"She can take pride for strangulating the people by simultaneously hiking the milk price, power tariff and bus fares."
On Jayalalithaa's charge that the Centre was meting out a "step-motherly treatment" to non-Congress ruled states, he said she was unnecessarily blaming the Centre for her "anti-people acts".
He pointed out that the Centre had raised prices of petroleum products even when DMK was in power. However, his government had not increased bus fares.
Alleging that increase in procurement price of milk had been done unilaterally without consulting the industry, he said Jayalalithaa had hiked milk price by Rs 6.25, while the procurement price was increased by just Rs 2.
Karunanidhi recalled that Jayalalithaa had raised commercial taxes soon after coming to power to fetch Rs 4000 crore revenue. The present power tariff hike was likely to yield another Rs 11,700 crore.
The DMK leader claimed he had desisted from hiking power tariff and increasing milk prices and bus fares when he was in power "only because I have a kind heart".
"I only pity the people who have voted her to power," he said.
Comments
0 comment