Udhayanidhi Stalin slams TVK’s first Agriculture Budget, backs farmers’ protest

Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin criticised the TVK government's maiden Agriculture Budget as "absolute nothing", accusing Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of failing farmers, reneging on crop loan waiver promises and not convening an all-party meeting on the Cauvery dispute

Chennai: Escalating his attack on TVK Government, Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Thursday termed the Agriculture budget as “absolute nothing”, charging Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay of “betraying” farmers and failing to deliver on key election promises.

He also slammed the government over not convening an all-party meeting on the Cauvery row. Led by the DMK youth wing leader, the opposition party MLAs arrived at the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly wearing black shirts to mark their protest against the state government’s alleged “inaction” regarding farm loan waivers and the escalating Mekedatu dam crisis. The TVK government presented its maiden agri budget on Thursday.

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Addressing reporters outside the Assembly, Udhayanidhi hit back at the administration for “merely rebranding” existing schemes while failing to address core issues facing the agrarian community.

“Absolutely nothing,” he said about the agri budget. “We have been consistently calling for an all-party meeting on the Cauvery and Mekedatu issues. We need to demonstrate that all political parties in Tamil Nadu stand united on this front. But as usual, the chief minister remains silent and refuses to respond,” Udhayanidhi said.

Criticising the government’s unfulfilled poll pledges, the opposition leader highlighted that despite promising complete crop loan waivers for farmers holding up to five acres, the state had repeatedly defaulted on its word.

Udhayanidhi noted that while the initial waiver cap was announced at Rs 50,000 and later revised to Rs 75,000 following intense demand from farmers, farmers continue to demand the total waiver originally promised.

On the inter-state water dispute, he claimed that Karnataka had unilaterally refused to release Tamil Nadu’s due share of Cauvery water. He alleged that the Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar had flatly declined talks on the matter, leaving Tamil Nadu farmers stranded.

DMK legislators have submitted a notice to the TN Assembly Speaker seeking an adjournment motion immediately following Question Hour in the House to debate the Cauvery row and the plight of state farmers. “We believe that speaker would give opportunity to us to speak”, he added.

“Farmers have been suffering for the past three months and are conducting continuous agitations. We wore black shirts today in solidarity with them. The DMK will always stand by our farmers”, he said and “challenged” the Chief Minister to address these critical concerns on the Assembly floor”.