Dravidian majors in war of words over poll performance

DMK won Lok Sabha polls on the back of false promises, says CM; will return to power soon: Stalin

July 02, 2019 12:50 am | Updated 12:50 am IST - CHENNAI

In the first Assembly session since the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the Assembly bypolls, the AIADMK and the DMK took potshots at each other over their respective electoral performances.

While Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami claimed that the DMK won [the Lok Sabha polls] by making false promises, DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin asserted that his party will return to power soon.

Mr. Palaniswami took a dig at the DMK leader, saying: “You claimed that you would come to power both at the top (Centre) and below (State). But the people have left you hanging in the balance.”

He alleged that the DMK won the Lok Sabha polls by cheating the people with false electoral promises which, he said, was akin to a child being kidnapped using candy as bait.

Stalin’s counter

Mr. Stalin, however, shot back, saying it was the AIADMK that had been left hanging in the balance. He sought to know on what basis Mr. Palaniswami had termed the DMK’s electoral promises ‘false’ and ‘unimplementable’. “When we come back to power, we will implement those promises,” he said.

The debate on the electoral performances of the parties branched out from a speech made by DMK member T. Udhayasuriyan (Sankarapuram), who credited Mr. Stalin for the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance’s victory.

Cooperation Minister Sellur K. Raju underlined that the AIADMK had won 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 on its own, unlike the DMK, which won by forging an alliance with other parties.

Mr. Udhayasuriyan said the DMK had won in 13 of the 22 Assembly constituencies where bypolls were held.

Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said the AIADMK had not only implemented schemes promised in its election manifesto, but also those it had not promised.

“We did not announce schemes of financial assistance of ₹1,000 and ₹2,000 for the people, but we did implement them,” he said, and claimed the AIADMK would remain in power post-2021.

Later, when Electricity Minister P. Thangamani clarified that the free power scheme for farmers was introduced during former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran’s regime, DMK member Duraimurugan challenged his claim, saying it was introduced during Karunanidhi’s government.

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