AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami tells TNIE’s T Muruganandham that NDA will receive overwhelming support in the Assembly polls and AIADMK will form a government on its own with clear majority. Excerpts:
You have been campaigning across Tamil Nadu for the past several months. You have visited and met the people in over 200 constituencies so far. However, the DMK chief says that since their government’s welfare schemes have reached everyone, they will win. What is your reading of the public mood?
With a clarion call of ‘Save People, Reclaim Tamil Nadu’, I have been meeting people across Tamil Nadu since July last year. I could see firsthand the anger of the people who have been severely affected by the authoritarian ways of the DMK government over the past five years. The DMK themselves know very well that it cannot come to power again under any circumstances. Yet, like the Tamil saying, keezhe vizhunthalum meesaiyil mann ottavillai (even if you fall head first, you won’t admit there’s mud on your moustache), they keep raising empty slogans of victory!
You assert that the AIADMK stands united under your leadership. But there is a view that the AIADMK has split, and a few are functioning as separate entities. Will this affect your party’s electoral prospects?
These are rumours being constantly spread by the DMK. We weeded out those who were acting as DMK stooges. The fact that all of them have now taken refuge with Stalin only confirms that our actions were right. With the weeds removed, our movement has been purified.
You have clarified on multiple occasions that it is the AIADMK that will form the government. DMK president MK Stalin has stated that power sharing will not work for Tamil Nadu. Your party’s second-rung leaders too say the same. Do you firmly stand by this position that there will be no power sharing?
Your question itself is confusing — why do you have doubts only about our position? In the upcoming election, the National Democratic Alliance, led by the AIADMK, will see a resounding victory. The AIADMK, with a majority on its own, will form the government.
There is a view that the AIADMK is aiding the BJP in gaining a foothold in Tamil Nadu.
It was the DMK that first gave the BJP a foothold in Tamil Nadu by forming an alliance way back in the 2001 Assembly election. Your question, implying that the BJP will be gaining a foothold only now, with the AIADMK’s support, is mischievous!
There is an accusation that you have, in recent times, been making demeaning, lowbrow criticisms of DMK leaders, specifically Stalin and his son, Udhayanidhi Stalin. How do you respond?
Throughout my political career, I have consistently maintained a standard of civility and decorum in my speech. However, since 2019, DMK leaders — specifically MK Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin — have repeatedly targeted me with slanderous and unrestrained language. It is strange that none of this has come to your notice! Left with no alternatives, I am compelled to respond in a language they understand. My remarks are nothing more than a reaction to their actions.
What do you say about the view that the AIADMK’s seeing a reduction in its vote bank by allying with the BJP?
Whose view is this? Yours? Or the DMK’s?
There is a perception that while the DMK is clearly putting forth a “Dravidian” ideology, the AIADMK lacks a distinctive ideological identity of its own.
Stalin has fabricated something new called “Dravidian ideology” and is cosplaying like a man in a tiger’s costume. We carry in our hearts the stirring words of Namakkal Kavignar V Ramalingam Pillai - “Tamilan Endru Sollada, Thalai Nimirndhu Nillada (Say you are a Tamilian, stand tall with your head held high!)” — and the battle cry of our Puratchi Thalaivar (AIADMK founder and late CM MG Ramachandran) and conduct ourselves accordingly in our political and personal lives.
Did you see any key lessons from the defeat in 2021 Assembly elections? If yes, what measures have you taken towards course correction?
We implemented various welfare schemes for the people and implemented several developmental measures for Tamil Nadu’s growth. There is no denying that it was a slight set back in the last election. For the past five years, as the principal opposition party, we have functioned in line with public sentiments. The people have now realised what a mistake it was to vote for the DMK and place them in power instead of voting for us. The rule of the Two Leaves will blossom on May 4!
You accuse the DMK government of stalling the schemes launched during the AIADMK’s tenure. Can you point out three schemes that you think are important and have been stopped?
The gold-for-thali scheme, 2,000 Amma Mini Clinics, two-wheelers for working women at subsidised cost! These are people’s welfare schemes. Besides these — the Kudimaramathu (community tank restoration) scheme, the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river-linking project, the Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme Phase 2 — I can keep listing sector after sector of schemes that were stopped.
After leaving the BJP alliance in 2023, you repeatedly said that you would never ally with that party again. Now, you say this “electoral” alliance has been formed as unseating the DMK from power is of utmost importance. Can this be interpreted as an acknowledgement that there are ideological contradictions between the AIADMK, which represents the sentiments of the people of a state, and the BJP, a national party?
Why did the DMK, which allied with the BJP in 1999, left the alliance in 2004? There is an ulterior motive in asking about our alliance instead of asking the same to the DMK, which has been looting together with the national party of Congress for over 20 years. To rid Tamil Nadu from the grip of dynastic politics and corruption, we have once again joined hands with the like-minded BJP. When I was the CM earlier, we worked together with the central government and implemented several welfare schemes. I think CM MK Stalin, who has realised that the people’s support for our alliance is leading to his defeat, is sowing such questions and doubts through people like you.
The leaders of other parties in your alliance refer to the coalition the NDA. The DMK says this itself is an indication of the dominance exerted by the BJP?
I view this only as the antics of a circus clown. The false propaganda of a comedian Stalin, who is running his politics by being a slave to the Congress and by treating other smaller parties as bonded labourers, will not work with the people!
How do you see the entry of actor Vijay into politics? There is a view that young voters are moving away from the Dravidian parties and this may affect the AIADMK as well.
How can you categorically state that a new political entrant will affect only the AIADMK’s chances? Are you saying that the DMK has pushed actor Vijay into politics specifically to hurt the AIADMK? No matter how many new parties enter the fray, the victory of the NDA led by the AIADMK cannot be stopped. We will win the upcoming election and form the government of Puratchi Thalaivar and Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (late CM and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa)!
There was a time when offering essentials free of cost by ruling parties was seen as the government’s assistance to the have-nots. Now, many parties including the AIADMK are offering “glamorous promises”. Do you think this is a healthy trend?
The AIADMK operates with the sole objective of fulfilling the needs of the poor and the underprivileged. The other parties, specifically the DMK, make promises to deceive the people and grab votes — what they erect in the name of promises is nothing but a canopy of empty words!
You accuse the DMK government of having increased the state’s debt to excessive levels. Does AIADMK have a clear roadmap to reduce the debt if it comes to power? Don’t you think some of the promises you have made may end up increasing the state’s debt?
We will increase the government’s revenue without burdening the people and implement welfare schemes. Unlike the DMK government, we will not borrow and spend recklessly. When the state’s revenue grows, the debt level will come down.
Tamil Nadu’s economy is simultaneously experiencing industrial growth and a growing debt burden. The DMK says the debt is within acceptable limits when seen together with the growth. Since you have highlighted the rising debt to be a key concern, what will your approach be to handle this situation?
From 2011 to 2021, under the AIADMK government, law and order were maintained, and Tamil Nadu was a haven of peace. Infrastructure like roads, electricity, and drinking water facilities expanded significantly. Hence entrepreneurs invested heavily in Tamil Nadu. It was because of the industries started as a consequence of this that Tamil Nadu emerged as a leading state in industrial growth in 2021, 2022, and 2023. During the DMK’s five years, due to the breakdown of law and order and a culture of collection, commission, and corruption in everything, many factories have relocated to other states. I repeatedly urged them to release a white paper on industrial growth.
However, it is our ill fate, but the only thing the state has received is an Industries Minister who just hands out blank white papers — that is our fate. Over the past five years, the DMK government borrowed `5 lakh crore and spent recklessly without building any real infrastructure. To cover up its failures, it is making irrelevant claims on the economy, industrial growth, and everything else.
Can you share three tangible economic targets that you aim to achieve in the first two years if elected to power?
We have several plans to reduce the debt burden, increase revenue, and ensure economic stability. It would not be prudent to reveal them prematurely.
Despite industrial growth, unemployment among youngsters seems to persist. How will you address this?
We have several draft plans to ensure that all youngsters have access to employment commensurate with their educational qualifications. We will implement these schemes as soon as we form the government.
The AIADMK’s earlier stance to gradually implement liquor prohibition has not yielded significant results. The social cost of alcoholism seems to be on the rise, with women in families severely affected. In this issue, what is your promise to women?
The DMK said during our (AIADMK) rule, the number of young widows increased because of alcoholism. When DMK comes to power, Stalin and his sister, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, promised to close Tasmac and shut down breweries run by those associated with the DMK. They have been in power for five years now — have they done what they promised? The number of people consuming alcohol has only increased. Their only achievement is collecting Rs 10 extra per bottle (of liquor) and thereby looting thousands of crores. Instead of asking them this question, you are asking me with an ulterior motive. There is no change in our policy of step-by-step implementation of prohibition.
In the DMK’s election manifesto for the upcoming election, there is no word on prohibition. How do you see this?
Liquor is the goose that lays golden eggs for the DMK! It is no surprise that they haven’t opened their mouths about it.