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‘Modi fulfilling MGR-Amma’s dreams’: Nirmala Sitharaman on Defence Corridor in TN

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Sunday, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling the dreams of former Chief Ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. “Minister (Vellamandi) Natarajan said that Puratchi Thalaivar MGR and Amma’s dreams of developing Trichy must be fulfilled. I would like to say something about that. From MGR’s period and Amma’s period, after asking around a lot to the Central Governments, now it is only Modi who is fulfilling those dreams today,” she said while addressing the gathering at the inauguration of projects for Defence Corridor in Trichy.

Nirmala Sitharaman added that the Modi government acknowledges the fact that the people of Tamil Nadu are enterprising businessmen. She also emphasised that the Defence Expo, which was never taken out of New Delhi except once in Goa, was brought to Tamil Nadu by Modi.

Stating that BJP was in power for only five years now and that it has brought defence corridor to the state with the co-operation of the state government, she said that this development did not happen in the last 20 sessions of the Defence Expo.

Can’t compare Modi with Amma and MGR: AIADMK

Reacting sharply to these comments, KP Munusamy of AIADMK said that comparison between MGR, Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Modi must be done on all aspects. “What dreams has Modi fulfilled? MGR and Amma’s dream was to create a society without inequalities. Has Modi done that? If you are comparing Modi with MGR and Jayalalithaa, it should be done in all aspects – industries, social welfare, equal rights for education,” he told TNM.  

Elaborating on the schemes brought in by the two former Chief Ministers of the state, he asked if Prime Minister Modi had done anything equivalent of those in Gujarat when he was the Chief Minister.

“MGR developed the noon meal scheme system in Tamil Nadu and also provided free clothes and money to people below poverty line in the state. Did Modi do anything like this in Gujarat when he was the Chief Minister? Similarly, when Amma was the Chief Minister, she brought in several revolutions in the field of education such as bearing all expenses for a student from lower classes to class 12. Has Modi done this? Only if these are done, then can it be said that Modi is fulfilling MGR and Amma’s dreams,” he explained.

The Defence Corridor in Trichy is the second in the country and was announced in the 2018-Union budget. The Tamil Nadu corridor will have six centres of production in Chennai, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Coimbatore and Hosur.

Source: The News Minute