Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai on Friday alleged that AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, following his recent meeting with Amit Shah in New Delhi, was acting like a “remote-controlled ‘yes man’” of the Union Home Minister.
Annadurai claimed that the meeting will hurt the AIADMK in the Assembly elections, echoing Chief Minister MK Stalin's remarks that the upcoming electoral contest is essentially Tamil Nadu vs Delhi.
Speaking to ANI, Annadurai said, "This one incident of Edappadi Palaniswami meeting Amit Shah in Delhi is going to prove the most detrimental issue in this election for them. Chief Minister MK Stalin has slammed it."
"That is why he termed this election as Tamil Nadu vs Delhi, Tamil Nadu vs BJP, and everything happening in that alliance is proving what our Chief Minister, MK Stalin, has spoken about. This is not a DMK vs AIADMK fight. Edappadi Palaniswami is nowhere in the picture. He is just a remote-controlled 'yes man' of Amit Shah," he said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that Tamil Nadu would go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect immediately, with the initiation of the election process for the 234-member state assembly, whose current tenure ends on May 10.
The main electoral contest is expected between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes DMK, Congress, and Other parties, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is also set to make his political debut in this election with his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
In the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won with 133 seats. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) followed with 66 seats. Congress stood at 18 seats. The state saw a voter turnout of 76.6 per Cent.
(With inputs from ANI)