Tamil Nadu Minister Says TVK Will Aim for All 234 Assembly Seats

"TVK will move from 108 successful constituencies to all 234 assembly seats": Tamil Nadu minister Sampath Kumar

Coimbatore, August 29

Sampath Kumar made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending an event in Coimbatore where house-site pattas were distributed to beneficiaries under the Tamil Nadu Housing Board Department.

"TVK would move from its 108 successful constituencies to securing all 234 Assembly constituencies in the future," Sampath Kumar said.

The event was held at the auditorium of a private college in the Goundampalayam area and was organised by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board Department.

Addressing the gathering, Sampath Kumar said, "Tamil and Thalapathy are our identity."

He said many people had been living in their own houses for more than 40 years but did not possess pattas for their properties. He expressed happiness that the distribution of pattas was being taken up in Coimbatore after the government assumed office.

Sampath Kumar said more than 18,000 petitions seeking pattas had been received and assured that pattas would be issued to eligible applicants in a phased manner. He also thanked the Chief Minister and Ministers Sengottaiyan and Rajkumar for addressing the long-standing demand of people who had been waiting for house-site pattas for 30 to 40 years.

Speaking about the distribution programme, he said the government had begun visiting respective areas and distributing pattas to people who had been waiting for several decades. In the first phase, pattas would be distributed to 500 beneficiaries, he said.

On the Periyar Knowledge Centre, Sampath Kumar said interior works were underway and the facility would be inaugurated by the Chief Minister after completion.

Responding to criticism by the VCK over the omission of the names of BR Ambedkar, Periyar and Jawaharlal Nehru from the Backward Classes State Demand Policy Note, he said the government's activities were guided by the principles of leaders including Periyar and Ambedkar.

"I will personally take moral responsibility for the omission of their names. Steps are being taken to issue a revised publication. We will never forget the leaders who worked for the people," he said.

On the Assembly, Sampath Kumar said a majority of MLAs were first-time legislators and were functioning with the understanding that they had entered the Assembly to serve the people.

Speaking about singing an MGR song in the Assembly, he said, "They keep talking about reels. Who started the reels first?"

He said MGR had conveyed messages through songs even in the 1970s and claimed that people understood whom the references were directed at.

— ANI