Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Monday denied that he performed a yagam in his official chambers at the Secretariat on Sunday.
Stating that he always had the habit of “offering prayers to the Almighty” in his office, Mr. Panneerselvam told journalists in Madurai: “The small conference hall adjacent to my chambers had to be cleaned up and anti-termite treatment was done (on Sunday).”
‘ Puja for CM’s post’
Opposition leaders had criticised the Deputy Chief Minister, alleging that he had performed a yagam . DMK president M.K. Stalin had alleged that Mr. Panneerselvam had performed the ritual to become the Chief Minister.
Reacting to this, Mr. Panneerselvam said Mr. Stalin was in a state of confusion and “has been blabbering”.
‘Baseless claims’
“Does Mr. Stalin, who claims he does not believe in superstitions, have faith in the idea of performing pujas to become CM? If so, every MLA may start performing such yagams and every Chief Minister may want to become Prime Minister and hence perform pujas ,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Stating that the AIADMK won’t be cowed by such ‘baseless’ allegations, he claimed the DMK leader was unable to digest the popularity of the AIADMK and was hence determined to create some cracks within the AIADMK.
“When that was not possible, Mr. Stalin went on to talk all kinds of rubbish,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
Opposition alliance
On the ‘mega alliance’ formed by the DMK and other Opposition parties for the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Panneerselvam said the AIADMK functionaries and cadre were trained by late leader Amma (Jayalalithaa).
“The people not only had faith in us, but also remained with us. The AIADMK will definitely perform better in the ensuing polls than it did during the 2014 Lok Sabha election,” Mr. Panneerselvam claimed.
