Attacking the previous Karunanidhi regime, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday said the people of the state have won new freedom with the end of the "tyrannical family rule".
In her first Independence Day address since coming to power in a landslide victory in the April 13 assembly elections, she said there had been no freedom for the people in the last five years and they had lived in fear.
"With the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam coming to power, the five years of tyrannical family rule has ended," Jayalalithaa said.
Once considered a peaceful state, Tamil Nadu had turned into a state of lawlessness during the five years of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, she alleged
Justifying the various freebies offered by her government, the chief minister said it was the "duty of the welfare state," to safeguard the interests of the poor people by distributing goods free of cost.
"In order to fulfill the essential needs of the people, our government is distributing some items free of cost. Such things distributed at no cost to the public should not be termed as freebies," she said, unfurling the tricolour at Fort St George.