DMK president M.K. Stalin on Friday said that the party, while in power, had implemented various schemes for the development of western region and questioned whether Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy can list out any schemes implemented by their government.

Canvassing votes for DMK’s Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (Modakkurichi), S. Muthusamy (Erode West) and M. Venkatachalam (Kumarapalayam) and other candidates, E. Thirumagan Evera of Congress (Erode East), K.K.C. Balu of Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (Perundurai) at Chithode in the district on Friday evening, he said that Kongu Vellalar Gounder community is dominant in the region and were demanding reclassification as a Backward Class from 1955.

“The then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi fulfilled their demand by issuing a Government Order on May 16, 1975 that enabled them to get their rights”, he added. He said that members of the community were able to get jobs both in Central and State government only because of the reclassification.

Mr. Stalin said that the Chief Minister and the power-vested five ministers, Mr. Thangamani, Mr. Sengottaiyan, Mr. Karuppannan, Mr. Velumani, Mr. Radhakrishnan, are from the region. “But they did nothing and were selfish and betrayed the people,” he claimed. The opposition leader charged that by accepting the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), three farm laws, eight-lane expressway project, protecting the accused in the Pollachi sexual assault case, pipeline project that pass through farm lands, collecting water charges and awarding tenders only to relatives and benami, the AIADMK government had betrayed the people in the region.