PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss, who till recently was one of the harshest critics of the AIADMK and BJP, on Monday tried to justify the electoral pact with the two parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
At a press conference in Chennai, he said that he is not embarrassed about justifying PMK’s alliance with AIADMK and BJP . “Definitely not. People have accepted this alliance. AIADMK has accepted this alliance. PMK has accepted this alliance. That’s all that counts,” he contended.
According to him, the change in the PMK’s stance that it will never align with Dravidian parties was mainly due to the party’s underwhelming performance in the last four elections in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016. “We contested and went throughout Tamil Nadu and sought votes, we worked very hard, and we put forward a great election manifesto (in 2016). We were appreciated by people but people did not give us any seats. Therefore, we have changed our strategy,” he said.
Asked if the PMK would now lay off the corruption charges that it made against top AIADMK ministers, he said that there will not be any change in its stance. “It is true we gave a list of corruption charges to the Governor. Even today, our stand is that there should be an investigation and strong action should be taken against the corrupt,” said Mr Ramadoss. But, he added, “Let the CBI investigate and if they bring out evidence of corruption, I will be the first person to step down.”
He argued that parties, which were opposed to each other, had come together elsewhere in the country such as the SP-BSP in Uttar Pradesh, AAP-INC in New Delhi, NCP-Congress in Maharashtra, TDP-Congress in Andhra Pradesh, and the DMK-Congress in Tamil Nadu.
“When we were in an alliance with DMK in 2004 Lok Sabha and 2006 State Assembly elections, we fiercely criticised DMK. Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) used to say that ‘ Thailam ’ (balm) is coming from Thailapuram (Ramadoss’ hometown). We did it for Tamil Nadu’s well being. We have criticised BJP as well. We will not give up on Tamil Nadu’s interest. We were doing it from outside so far and now we will be doing it as an alliance partner. It is easy,” he claimed.
Asked about his strong criticism of the AIADMK till recently, he said, “I am not denying it. Is there a rule that those who criticise should not get together? In Tamil Nadu, [VCK leader] Thirumavalavan criticised DMK and Congress. Is there anything that [MDMK founder] Vaiko has not said about DMK and Congress? We have taken this decision keeping in mind the best interests of Tamil Nadu.”
The PMK leader said, “All major parties approached us. This is common before elections. Ayya (Ramadoss) consulted PMK cadres and office bearers. They insisted that we should go in for an alliance with AIADMK. [DMK president] Stalin is severely attacking us – may be he is doing it because we aren’t with them. We will not criticise him back,” he said.
Clarified the party’s past stance about not contesting in by-polls, he said: “We only said we will not contest. We have not said that we will not support anyone.”
