The DMK had surpassed the Congress in family-based politics, AIADMK headquarters secretary S.P. Velumani said here on Wednesday.
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Addressing party members at the AIADMK office, Mr. Velumani said that earlier, the Congress was the only party in which “zamindars and landlords” could become legislators. Now, the DMK had overtaken the Congress in family-based politics, he said, referring to the induction of Udhayanidhi Stalin into the Council of Ministers.
“Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has a habit of doing what he said he won’t do,” Mr. Velumani said, citing the statements made by him earlier that no one from his family would enter politics.
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He said the DMK had deviated from the principles of Annadurai, who started the party with the aim of bringing political power to the common man.
Taking a dig at the alliance partners of the DMK such as the CPI, the CPI(M) and the MDMK, he wondered why they were not opposing family politics.
T.T.V. Dhinakaran, Sasikala slam Udhayanidhi’s induction in T.N. Cabinet
In Tiruppur, AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran questioned the rationale behind inducting Mr. Udhayanidhi into the Council of Ministers.
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Addressing the media, Mr. Dhinakaran said, “What is the urgent need for Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to make his son Udhayanidhi a Minister when he [Mr. Stalin] waited for nearly 17 years after becoming a legislator for the first time in 1989 to be inducted into the Cabinet led by his father and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in 2006?”
“Mr. Stalin should clarify why Mr. Udhayanidhi was made a Minister when he has only one-and-a-half years of experience as a legislator,” Mr. Dhinakaran said.
The AIADMK’s former interim general secretary, V.K. Sasikala, criticised the DMK for carrying out a ‘coronation’ in the guise of reshuffling the portfolios of Ministers.
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Alluding to the swearing-in of Mr. Udhayanidhi as a Minister, Ms. Sasikala said this was being viewed as an “achievement of the Dravidian model”.
DMK allies, MNM hail Udhayanidhi’s debut as Minister
The Congress, the VCK and the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) congratulated Mr. Udhayanidhi.
“He has already made a name for himself as someone who was able to mobilise young people for the youth wing. I have faith that he will achieve much more as the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development,” Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri said.
VCK leader and Chidambaram MP Thol. Thirumavalavan and MNM founder Kamal Haasan also extended their greetings to Mr. Udhayanidhi.