To AIADMK, DMK remains an evil force, clarifies Palaniswami
Amid allegations that the DMK and the AIADMK had attempted to join hands to prevent the TVK from forming a government after the recent election
Amid allegations that the DMK and the AIADMK had attempted to join hands to prevent the TVK from forming a government after the recent election threw up a hung Assembly, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday asserted that, to his party, the DMK remained an “evil force”, and that the AIADMK’s stand had not changed. Speaking to reporters at the AIADMK office in Omalur after a meeting with party functionaries, Mr. Palaniswami referred to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s recent speech in Karur, in which he had accused the DMK and the AIADMK of being “partners in crime”. “Such remarks are unbecoming of the office he holds,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
He alleged that the Chief Minister was “poaching” AIADMK MLAs by persuading them to resign their Assembly membership and join the TVK. “What has the TVK government achieved in the last 60 days? Vijay only delivers punch dialogues,” he said. When asked whether the TVK government would complete its five-year term, Mr. Palaniswami said it was surviving with the support of its alliance partners who, he said, were making contradictory statements every day. “Before the elections, Mr. Vijay criticised both the Dravidian parties. After the elections, however, the TVK formed the government with the support of the DMK’s allies. Before the elections, the DMK had described its alliance as an ideological one.
But after the elections, its allies have aligned with the TVK. Where, then, is the ideology,” he asked. Recalling the stand taken by AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran, Mr. Palaniswami said the party continued to regard the DMK as an “evil force.” He added that the AIADMK had consistently highlighted the shortcomings of the erstwhile DMK government in the Assembly and during the election campaign. Responding to Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B. Manickam Tagore’s statement that AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran had destroyed the AIADMK, Mr. Palaniswami questioned the Congress’s political strength in the State. “In how many places is the Congress present in Tamil Nadu,” he asked. Alleging that Mr. Tagore had made the remarks to attract media attention after assuming office as State president of the party, Mr. Palaniswami said the Congress had won only a few seats with the support of the DMK.
Claiming that the TVK government lacked administrative experience, Mr. Palaniswami said previous DMK and AIADMK governments had appointed experienced professionals as advisers in various departments. “In the TVK government, those who helped the Chief Minister win the election have been appointed as advisers. The Chief Minister’s film producer has been appointed as the State’s Special Representative in New Delhi. Soon, even the Chief Minister’s makeup artist may get a post. The Chief Minister has turned governance into cinema,” he alleged.
The BriefWire