DMK president M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said there was confusion in the ruling AIADMK about the Chief Ministerial candidate and it would lead to the party’s split.
“We do not know when the AIADMK will split. What is certain is that it will split,” he said while addressing a gathering in Ananthalai panchayat that comes under the Ranipet Assembly constituency.
Mr. Stalin said there was a battle between Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate and that they decided in favour of Mr. Palaniswami after a meeting. “In the last two days, the [some] AIADMK Ministers say that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would decide the Chief Minister. It is not clear when Mr. Panneerselvam will leave the party,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said as far as the DMK was concerned, there was no confusion about the Chief Minister candidate.
Pongal gift
Reacting to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s allegation that the DMK was preventing distribution of ₹2,500 as Pongal gifts, Mr. Stalin said the DMK was only demanding that the distribution of the money be done in a fair and transparent manner.
“I welcomed the government’s decision to distribute money even though it was announced with an eye on the election. There are complaints. The ruling partymen are not only using the picture of the Chief Minister, but also that of the local Ministers and MLAs. We have registered a complaint with the Election Commission,” he said. The DMK leader swore on party founder C.N. Annadurai that he never wanted to scuttle the Pongal gift scheme and was all for enhancing the amount.
Expressing confidence that the DMK would win more than 200 Assembly seats in 2021, he said the party would put an end to all issues faced by government employees, teachers and other sections of the society.
“We will also increase to 150 days from 100 days the working days of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme,” he said.
