Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko on Sunday alleged that corruption was rampant in the United Progressive Alliance-II government, and asked Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu to lead a national alliance against the government.
Talking to media persons after meeting Chandrababu Naidu and expressing his solidarity to his demand of a revised relief package to rain-hit farmers in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Vaiko said that ever since the UPA-II and Congress governments took charge at the centre and in the state, corruption was rampant and manifold.
The leader from Tamil Naidu, in his fiery speech, stated that he suspected the hand of A Raja, DMK MP and former telecommunications minister, in the allotment of 2G Spectrum licenses out of turn, leading the exchequer to lose about Rs. 1.76 lakh crore.
The MDMK leader said that the government was not bothered about losing lakhs of crores of rupees in scams but was reluctant to sanction a paltry amount of Rs. 10,000 per hectare to hapless farmers.
Vaiko pointed out that when corruption charges were leveled against the NDA government during its stint in power, the TDP had protested even though it was offering support to the government from outside. He also described the TDP president as a 'spotless' person and said that this was the main reason why MDMK was extending its support to his fast.
The MDMK leader called upon all regional parties to come onto a common platform to launch a united fight against farmers' problems at the national level and asked Naidu to lead this alliance.
Vaiko charged the Congress governments in the state and the centre of having failed to implement the M S Swaminathan Committee report on farmers' welfare.
The Tamil Nadu leader warned the government that it would have to face people's ire if it does not respond to Naidu's hunger strike.