CHENNAI: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the opposition DMK. Speaking for nearly an hour, he appealed to the people of the state to give him time to fix what he described as a corrupt system and fulfil his poll promises. He, however, assured that his government would not spare anyone involved in corruption and would expose every person responsible.Without directly naming the DMK, the chief minister said they had been using their “political seniority to belittle this Vijay, ordinary people and the real social justice govt”. He said this had been happening for more than 50 years, beginning from the time of former chief minister M G Ramachandran. Looking at the empty opposition benches, he said they should change their decades-old tactics as they were now outdated.The DMK staged a walkout in protest, alleging that Vijay had misled the House with factually incorrect information.“The people are watching this. But I firmly guarantee one thing to the political party, which claims to be the champion of state autonomy, that they are not the political force that has a double standard on language, culture and tradition. Our guarantee to the people is that Tamil is our heart and soul (lifeline),” he said.Vijay reiterated that his government would not compromise on the state’s rights. However, he said the government was clear that politics and the relationship between the state and the Union government were two different matters. He added that the opposition was exposing itself under the guise of teaching them politics.He further sharpened his attack on Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin over remarks made on Monday, saying he had spoken at length. Vijay said that, under the guise of criticising the government, Udhayanidhi had indirectly referred to them as “evils”. “But the point is that the devil should not use the term ‘evil’,” he said.He also rejected Udhayanidhi’s “sofa model govt” remark and said they should keep their furniture, table and sofa politics outside the Assembly.
