In his address after unfurling the tricolour at Fort St. George here on the occasion of the 71st Independence Day, the CM said his government's slogan was 'all-round development', inspired by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
It was his first Independence Day address as CM after taking over in February following a revolt in the AIADMK, Palaniswami recalled the contribution of freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu and announced raising their pension from Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000.
"We are working with the sole aim of public service by smashing all the hurdles before us, with the slogan of all- round development," Palaniswami said, though he did not elaborate on the "hurdles".
However, it comes at a time when he is locked in a tussle with his AIADMK (Amma) faction's sidelined Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, who launched state-wide public meeting yesterday in an apparent show of strength.
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Recently, the Amma faction had questioned the authority of Dhinakaran in the party affairs, days after he had appointed his aides to key posts, and had asked party workers not to give credence to those appointments.
The party had already suffered a split in February when former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had revolted against its chief VK Sasikala, now in jail in a disproportionate assets case, alleging he was forced to make way for her to the state's top post.
A keenly anticipated merger of the two factions, headed by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, is also witnessing a delay.
Palaniswami, who described late CM Jayalalithaa as the "eighth wonder of the world," said she led the state on the path of development and as a result Tamil Nadu was progressing fast in many sectors.
The current government is carrying forward the work initiated by her, he added.
He said that late Jayalalithaa and party founder M G Ramachandran were patriots and that is why they could take the state on the path of development.
He said the success of Independence lies in easy availability of individual needs such as food, education and jobs. "On that count, Tamil Nadu has made tremendous development. It has progressed in all sectors."
He mentioned various welfare initiatives of his government including on education, public health, agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Later, he gave away various awards, including the Kalpana Chawla Award for Courage and Daring Enterprise.
The award was presented to S Preethi, a former captain of the Tamil Nadu U-19 cricket team.
An accident had left her a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair, but she had reached out to persons affected with spinal cord injuries through her trust 'Soul Free', the government said.
"This trust has been transforming the lives of people affected with spinal cord injuries through employment, vocational training, education and development," it said.