News Tamil Nadu

Bihar & UP People Eat Chapati Kuruma At Amma Unavagam At TN Tax Payer’s Expense: DMK’s RS Bharathi

September 23, 2024
The Commune

During a party meeting in Chennai, DMK Organization Secretary RS Bharathi questioned the relevance of Amma Unavagam, the late Jayalalithaa’s pet project. He asked about the need for a low-cost meal scheme after her death and accused AIADMK leaders of exploiting it.

He also claimed that only the north Indian workers benefited from Amma Unavagam on Tamil Nadu taxpayers’ money.

During his speech, Bharathi criticized AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), dismissing claims that the DMK government had closed Amma Unavagam. He said, “Amma (Jayalalithaa) herself has left (died), then what is the need for Amma Unavagam? Edappadi and his gang ate idli and dosa for one and a half crore rupees while Amma (Jayalalithaa) was in the hospital. Now they are acting like the DMK has shut down Amma Unavagam, where just about 150 people eat daily,” Bharathi remarked.

Bharathi also attacked the Jayalalithaa government’s management of Amma Unavagam, alleging that “wasted food” was served there. He said, “The Jayalalithaa government served leftover food in Amma Unavagam. The chapati and kuruma served at night in Amma Unavagam are consumed by people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We spend our tax money and feed him,” said RS Bharathi.

This is not the first time RS Bharathi has targeted Hindi speakers, people from north of India, ADMK members, especially EPS and Jayalalithaa, or even the TN Governor.

At an event commemorating the 100th anniversary celebrations of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, Bharathi said, “What is the governor doing? He just wants to create problems for the ruling government. We have seen so many governors, but this governor creates a fuss and drags us into a fight. He refuses to sign the bills we send. I addressed a gathering about what happened to him in Nagaland; they chased him away. Don’t mistake me; I am just quoting an example. The people of Nagaland eat dog meat. If someone who eats dog meat themselves has so much self-respect that they chased away this governor, then imagine how much self-respect Tamils, who consume food with salt, would have. The day he was chased away, the people of Nagaland celebrated it like Deepavali.”

In another instance, at a meeting (in an undated video), Bharathi ridiculed north Indian labourers and said, “The reason why Tamil Nadu is the best state in India is because of the DMK. The people in the other states are fools; they have no brains. These north Indians, I am saying this openly.”

Insulting EPS

During an event in Ambattur, Chennai, in 2021, DMK leader RS Bharathi made derogatory remarks about the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Edappadi Palaniswami. He said, “He has forgotten with whose help this dog, this man sat on the CM’s chair. Those who kick the ladder they used to climb up have never met a good end. I would say even MGR is also like that. MGR was nurtured and made into a leader by this movement. But you know what happened when he betrayed. He passed away without being able to speak.”.

Making Derogatory Remarks On Jayalalithaa

He also made disrespectful comments about J. Jayalalithaa, implying that he was responsible for sending her to jail in the TANSI case, and even suggested speaking to her from her memorial. He said, “Go wake her up from the samadhi [memorial] and ask”. He added, “Recently, Jayalalithaa’s memorial hall opened on January 27. They gave ₹40,000 per bus from all over Tamil Nadu and gave ₹2000 to those who boarded the bus. Also, they picked them up and dropped them off at Marina Beach. Edappadi and OPS thought the crowd would come to the Jayalalithaa memorial. But the crowd thought, instead of visiting that ‘moodhevi’ (a derogatory slang in Tamil), they visited Kalaignar’s [Karunanidhi’s] memorial”.

Governor Also Like Bihari Panipuri Sellers

In January 2023, at a public meeting, he compared the Governor to a migrant worker from Bihar. He said that he would not have left without being beaten had Jayalalitha been alive. “I had earlier stated that those who sell Soan papdi and Panipuri don`t know the pride of Tamil Nadu. I learned that many have come from Bihar and the Governor (RN Ravi) has similarly come by train,”. 

Amma Unavagam

The Amma Unavagam scheme, launched by Jayalalithaa in 2013, provides affordable meals to the poor across Tamil Nadu. The project, which still operates under the DMK government, offers idli for ₹1, pongal for ₹5, variety rice for ₹5, curd rice for ₹3, and two chapatis for ₹3, among other low-cost meals. Currently, 650 Amma Unavagam operate statewide, with 407 located in Chennai alone.

(With inputs from ETV Bharat)

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