Palaniswami seeks Bharat Ratna for Jayalalithaa, Annadurai

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and reiterated the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK) earlier demand to accord Bharat Ratna to former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa and C. N. Annadurai.

"During the meeting with the Prime Minister today we reiterated our earlier demand to accord Bharat Ratna for 'Amma' (Jayalalithaa) and Aringar Anna (Annadurai). We also demanded to change the name of Chennai Central Railway Station as Dr MGR Central Railway Station," Palaniswami told media after his meeting with Prime Minister Modi.

"We have also reiterated to expedite efforts in establishing of AIIMS Hospital in Thoppur in the Madurai district. The issue of fishermen going missing is a perennial problem of the state, therefore, we have requested Prime Minister to establish a permanent naval base in Kanyakumari, equipped with helicopters, which could help in locating missing fishermen," he added.

The Chief Minister also requested Prime Minister Modi to "allocate the pending local body funds immediately to undertake welfare schemes."

"We need to have finances to execute various developmental schemes. Recently, we implemented the 7th Pay Commission. There is a huge amount of wage to be paid to the transport department workers. So, after keeping all these things in mind, we will decide upon the issue," he added.

On reduction of taxes on fuel, Palaniswami said a decision will be taken keeping the financial requirements of the state in mind.

He also said that any decision regarding pre-poll alliance will be taken after the announcement of poll dates.