Rs 4 Lakh crore debt hangs over people of TN, says Rahul

COIMBATORE/MADURAI: Two days after his mother Sonia Gandhi slammed Jayalalithaa over the AIADMK government's response to floods, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the latter had failed to come out and embrace the people of Chennai when the city was suffering.
Winding up his TN poll campaign at Maduravoyal, a suburb in Chennai, the Congress scion did not mince any words in taking on the AIADMK leadership.
"I did not see Jayalalithaa hold your hand and tell you that everything will be alright. Against all odds, I have seen DMK leader Karunanidhi travel in his van and meet people during floods," Rahul said, amid cheers from the gathering. The Congress leader hailed the DMK veteran for his "struggle and work for the people of the state," even at the age of 93 years.
In all the three cities where he spoke, he narrated the story of Sathya, a class IX student of Theni district who lost her father to alcohol and her mother who could not suffer the pain of losing her loved husband. He alleged that while giving away freebies like faulty mixers and grinders worth Rs5000 for every family, the liquor policy of the state had taken away Rs65,000 from each family.
Expressing confidence that the DMK - Congress combine would win the elections, Rahul said they would not let alcohol destroy the lives of people. We will make sure that none is orphaned. We will give you a corruption-free government,'' he said.
Tamil Nadu, which was once a well-developed state, was now most backward and was steeped in a debt of Rs 4 lakh crore, he said. This means each family has a debt of 2 lakh hanging over their heads. Industries and factories which once came here on their own were leaving the state. When the DMK alliance comes to power in the state, everything would be set right, he said.