Downplaying the defeat of his party’s candidate in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly bypoll, DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Monday said that while the results were a “temporary setback” for his party, the recent acquittal of DMK leaders in the 2G spectrum allocation case represented a “permanent victory”.
“The party had faced setbacks in byelections [in the past], but had gone on to win the general elections held subsequently. Money has won in R.K. Nagar and it [the result] is not a setback,” he said in a statement addressed to party functionaries.
It was the country’s democracy which was defeated in the bypoll, and the DMK had received the defeat as a prize for adhering to democratic principles, he said.
‘Win for kleptocracy’
“Those who heckle and ridicule the DMK for its defeat are actually supporting the irregularities and the misuse of power and money. It is not the DMK that was defeated in the constituency. The defeat is for democracy. The DMK lost its deposit because of the splurge by the two factions of the AIADMK,” he alleged.
Despite the factors that led to the cancellation of the bypoll in April continuing to prevail this time as well, the Election Commission turned a blind eye to them and paved the way for the victory of a kleptocracy, the DMK leader rued. “A victory bought by money is not a prize, but a great shame. What has been defeated is the democratic principle of the DMK that money should not be used to buy votes. The DMK can hold its head high and stand by the people without any trace of defeat. Victory does not make us arrogant and defeat cannot make us despondent. This is the political lesson that our leader Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) taught us,” he said.
Noting that defeats in bypolls were not new to the DMK, he said the party would not be cowed by the “forces that used the outcome of the bypoll to prevent a general election.”
“The leaders of the two [AIADMK] factions are actually followers of those who have been convicted by the Supreme Court. But the DMK faced the cases, filed against it with an ulterior motive, without seeking any adjournment. Today, we shine like polished gold,” the DMK leader said.
Mr. Stalin added that those who could not come to terms with the acquittal of DMK leaders in the 2G spectrum allocation case were blowing the party’s defeat in the bypoll out of proportion.
