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Chief minister J.Jayalalithaa rejected the Opposition demand for a rollback of milk price and bus fare hikes. She asserted the hikes were necessitated by the misadministration of the previous DMK regime, which left PSUs almost broke.

In a four-page statement, the chief minister clarified the reasons for the hikes.

“Milk cooperative societies were making profit till 2006. But in the past few years, Aavin was not able to pay for procured milk even after 45 days. The DMK government was never worried about delayed payments. Had the prices not been hiked now, Aavin would have closed down soon. That would have led to dominance of private players who set up their own rates,“ she said, adding that the state transport corporations were in a similar crisis following frequent hikes in diesel prices by the Centre.

Ms Jayalalithaa said the state was giving `60 crore to transport corporations and `100 crore to milk cooperatives each month to keep them afloat. The chief minister said her predecessor Mr M. Karunanidhi was shedding “crocodile tears“.

“People would not be misled by his statements. He has no moral right to issue such comments,“ Ms Jayalalithaa said.

Taking a dig at former allies, she said many of them had met her before the elections and reposed commitment in her leadership to steer the state's economy.

“I leave it to their conscience to conclude whether it is acceptable to criticise the price hikes.“ Ms Jayalalithaa urged people to see through the Opposition game plan and continue to support her.