DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday said while Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was projecting himself as the Chief Minister candidate, his alliance partners, particularly the BJP, were not ready to accept it.
“Even Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam did not project Mr. Palaniswami as the Chief Minister candidate during his campaign [at the YMCA grounds],” he said.
The Opposition leader said Mr. Palaniswami was targeting the DMK and describing it as a family outfit just to overcome his disappointment and agony at not being endorsed as the chief ministerial candidate.
At a virtual meeting with DMK functionaries from Ariyalur and Perambalur districts, he countered Mr. Palaniswami’s assertion that even a thousand Stalins could not break the AIADMK, saying neither the DMK nor he were interested in breaking the AIADMK.
“There is no need for it. We are sustained by our strength and not the weakness of others. We do not consider a weak Chief Minister, who could not even become the general secretary of the party, as an enemy,” Mr. Stalin said.
Reiterating that he was never against the Pongal gift of ₹2,500, Mr. Stalin said he actually wanted the government to distribute ₹5,000 in April itself.
“The Chief Minister, who was not ready to pay heed to my request, is now giving ₹2,500 because the election is round the corner. He is using government money for the benefit of the AIADMK and we have approached the court,” the DMK leader said.
In reply to Mr. Palaniswami’s comments on his contribution as the Mayor of Chennai, the DMK president said all the flyovers on which the Chief Minister travelled were constructed during his term. “I introduced mechanisation in garbage clearing, laid 302 km of roads and 203 km of inner roads, constructed bus stops with shelters, 81 resting parks and 18 roadside parks, 47 residential playgrounds and storm water drainage systems that ran many kilometres,” he said.
He said he had plunged into a political war to safeguard democracy when he was 23 years old and would not sleep till the AIADMK government is removed from power.
