K Palaniswamy hits out at DMK chief Stalin for his 'dengue regime' barb, accuses him of playing politics with health

Pudukottai: Chief Minister K Palaniswamy asserted that the Tamil Nadu government was working full swing to halt the spread of dengue and eradicate it while accusing the DMK of seeking to politicise the issue. [caption id=“attachment_4124361” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Chief Minister K Palaniswamy. PTI[/caption] The chief minister was responding to DMK working president MK Stalin who had ridiculed the government as a “dengue regime” and alleged inaction on its part to curb its spread. Palaniswamiy said, “He is saying this wantonly in a planned fashion to denigrate this government.” The chief minister said the vector-borne disease would be  eradicated with help of the people of the state, and, without naming any party, said, “Many are trying to politicise this…they have nothing to politicise other than this.” In an analogy apparently aimed at the DMK, he said, “if one were to wear coloured glasses”, the sight would only reflect that colour. “Only a plain pair of glasses will allow a realistic vision.. I hope those who criticise will understand.” Palaniswami, who was speaking at former chief minister M G Ramachandran’s centenary commemoration here, stressed that the mosquito eradication plan could be successfully implemented only with public participation. Listing out steps taken by the government to tackle dengue, he referred to fogging operations, awareness campaigns to keep environs clean and providing of free ‘Nilavembu Kashayam’ (a traditional concoction of neem to fight fever) in public places. “The government is taking all steps and working full swing to eradicate the dengue fever,” the chief minister said. On Saturday, a five-member central team, deputed to examine the dengue situation in Tamil Nadu, had termed the 40 deaths since January in the state due to the fever as “minimal” and said there was no need to panic. It said they had been informed by state officials that there were 40 deaths out of the 12,000 cases reported since January. Pudukottai is the 19th venue to host the centenary celebrations of AIADMK founder and former chief minister MG Ramachandran. Similar celebrations have already been held in 19 other towns in Tamil Nadu.