Sivaganga: Wondering how AIADMK would be part of the Union government unless it aligned with national parties after the Lok Sabha polls, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday asked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to openly state her post-poll strategy without being dodgy.
"How can AIADMK form the government with 30 seats? Whom is it going to align with? Jayalalithaa should not dodge this question" he said, addressing a meeting to introduce his son Karthi P Chidambaram to voters.
His remark comes in the backdrop of AIADMK taking the electoral plunge without forging poll truck with any player and dumping former allies, the two Left parties and party supremo and CM Jayalalithaa keen to realise her ambition of playing a prominent role at the national level post poll.
Chidambaram then chose to give a cricket analogy, saying even if AIADMK chose to be part of the BJP government, it would be only 'B-team' and that too only the '12th man'.
Stating that both DMK and AIADMK could not go beyond the state borders and would need support of MPs from other states, he said Tamils would be part of the Union government only if people voted for national parties.
He said that Union ministers from Tamil Nadu who had occupied powerful posts in the past were from Congress. "Thirty years before R Venkataraman was Finance Minister and Rajaji was Union Home Minister," he said.
Countering Jayalalithaa's poser on what he had done as Union Finance Minister for Tamil Nadu, he said the Centre had spent Rs 11,769 crore to lay a four-lane highway; laid 119 km of new railway track and converted 674 km of Metre Gauge track to Broad Gauge, besides laying double line to 167 km.
On the power front, he said the Centre had spent Rs 14,000 crore to generate 4250 MW in Tamil Nadu. A 4000 MW power station was being set up in Seyyar, whereas total generation of the state government units was only 1952 MW.
He said the Centre had also given funds to Tamil Nadu by sharing tax revenue, from its financial reserve and by loan. Government had allocated Rs 21,711 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 23,392 crore in 2012-13.
"The Chief Minister can verify all this with union Finance Secretary," he said.
Plumping for youth power, he said a majority of India's population are youth and it was high time they should rule the country. "Youth of this country should be prepared and asked to rule the country. In many countries they are leading the country," he said.
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