Former Chief Minister and founder president of the All India N. R. Congress N. Rangasamy on Tuesday said people are compelled to approach the Raj Nivas for getting their grievances redressed as the ruling Congress party has “failed to deliver on its promises.”
“People are going to Raj Nivas with petitions and complaints. They are meeting the Lieutenant Governor to address their grievances. The present government is responsible for creating such a situation. Since you are not addressing issues faced by the people, the Lt Governor is shouldering the responsibility,” the former Chief Minister said while addressing workers on the seventh anniversary of the party.
Stating that the government had failed to fulfil the promises made during elections, he said the Chief Minister was trying to pass the buck to the Union Government by citing lack of funds. He also criticised Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy for asking the Lt Governor to get funds from the Union Government.
“We know that the Union Territory depends on the Union Government for funds. The government should try to maintain a cordial relation with the Centre for getting funds,” he said.
“If the present Chief Minister while holding senior positions at Centre and in Congress party had helped us to get Statehood, the present situation would not have happened,” he said.
Mr. Rangasamy appealed to the Union Government to provide adequate funds to implement welfare measures and take up development works.
Lashing out at the Congress government, he said even welfare measures adopted by the N. R. Congress government were stopped. He also criticised the government for retrenching people appointed by the previous regime.
“The Congress has come to power with the promise to provide jobs but instead it has made people jobless,” he said.
Exhorting workers to be confident about the prospects of the party, he said “disenchantment against the government was growing everyday.”
Mr. Rangasamy also announced the decision to appoint party functionaries from constituency to booth level.
The party would organise a political conference in March to chart out the future course of action, a senior functionary of the party told The Hindu .
Earlier in the day, Mr. Rangasamy hoisted the flag at the party office near Indira Gandhi Statue and interacted with workers.
