Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday said Tamil Nadu needed “a farmer as Chief Minister,” identifying Edappadi K. Palaniswami, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and a leader of the National Democratic Alliance, as the suitable choice, asserting that only such leadership could understand agrarian distress. He was campaigning at Kilvelur in support of PMK candidate and its general secretary Vadivel Ravanan.

Alleging a deterioration in law and order, Mr. Anbumani said that over the past five years, around 44,000 cases of crimes against women had been registered in the State, averaging about 25 cases a day. He claimed that nearly 27,000 cases of crimes against children were recorded during the same period, amounting to about 35 cases daily. He contrasted this with the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime under Edappadi K. Palaniswami, stating that women and children were safer then.