Consult people before bifurcating districts: M K Stalin

SALEM: The leader of the opposition and DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday said though DMK was not opposed to bifurcation of large districts, any such decision should be based on consultations with the people of the respective areas, who will be affected and it should not be done arbitrarily.

"The AIADMK has been in power in the state for eight years; ask them what they have done, they say we are creating more districts," Stalin said taking a dig at the Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami announcing a slew of new smaller districts in an arbitrary fashion.

Speaking at a party function at Taramangalam near Salem where he unveiled a bronze statue of former Chief Minister and DMK's late patriarch M Karunanidhi, Mr. Stalin said, "we are not saying that bifurcating larger districts is wrong; but any such move should be in line with proper, established procedures and wishes of the people."

On the Chief Minister's two-week foreign tour from Wednesday to bring more direct foreign investments into Tamil Nadu, Stalin said, "if such investments really come, we will be happy." But what happened to the investments promised at two Global Investors Meets held in Chennai of Rs.2.42 lakh crore and subsequently Rs. five lakh crore, asked Stalin, adding, the government was not giving details.

"Tamil Nadu's rights are being taken away, but this government seems least bothered,' added Stalin. Senior party functionaries including former minister Ms Subbulakshmi Jegadeesan and thousands of DMK cadres participated in the function. ‘