‘MK Stalin has become 1-hour CM’: Puducherry L-G Tamilisai Soundararajan faults Tamil Nadu’s handling of floods

“Chief Minister MK Stalin has become one-hour chief minister. I asked many people. They informed me that he was here (to assess the impact of floods) for just one hour,” Soundararajan told reporters, criticising Stalin also for taking part in a meeting of the INDIA bloc when the floods hit the state.

Soundararajan, who is also the governor of Telangana, said she was deeply disturbed to see the plight of people in villages she had visited since morning. She also distributed relief materials in flood-affected areas.

“Houses were damaged. There was no milk powder for children. Women did not have proper clothes, and there was still water all around. Not even a wall was properly built for irrigation tanks. The water is stagnant in many places. I can say it openly: the Tamil Nadu government could have taken more preventive measures,” said the former state BJP president.

Soundararajan said some residents she met at Eral, one of the worst-affected areas in the district, had told her that they could have saved their properties if there were even a minor announcement from the government. She asked what was the need for a state government if it kept saying the central government did not allocate disaster relief funds or that the weather department did not provide accurate and timely forecasts.

Commenting on the state government’s demand that the floods be declared as a national disaster and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s rejection citing there was no such practice, Soundararajan asked what flood preventive measure the government had done with Rs 4,000 crore in Chennai.

Soundararajan also said she would submit a report on the situation in southern Tamil Nadu to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nirmala Sitharaman.

Visited flood affected Pottalkaadu Village in Tuticorin District Spent time at flood relief camp.
Distributed Flood Relief materials to the beneficiaries. Got to know the facilities arranged for them, Served food & joined them for Tiffin.@PMOIndia @narendramodi @HMOIndia… pic.twitter.com/8ASiCa7bU5

— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisaiGuv) December 25, 2023

In response to Soundararajan’s statements, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu said she was planning to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Tamil Nadu.

“It would be beneficial if she carried out her duties as a governor. Her future plan is to contest Lok Sabha polls from somewhere in Tamil Nadu and become an MP. However, no matter where she contests the poll, she will lose. The people of Tamil Nadu have already defeated her,” the minister said.

She should “refrain from becoming a BJP spokesperson”, he added.