COIMBATORE: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday called TTV Dhinakaran a criminal and said he won the RK Nagar bypoll using the Hawala formula.
“We did not think he could bribe voters to this extent. But he did it at such a level that a normal person cannot think of — only a criminal can,” Palaniswami said while addressing a gathering at the MGR birth centenary celebrations in Ooty. The Chief Minister further called Dhinakaran’s victory in the bypoll a fluke.
Referring to the infamous ‘Thirumangalam’ formula in the by-election history of the State, Palaniswami said Dhinakaran introduced a new formula called ‘Hawala’ to get votes.
According to him, Dhinakaran joined hands with the DMK in an attempt to topple the government. “Dhinakaran has acted against the prime aim of forming the AIADMK by joining hands with the opposition DMK,” Palaniswami said.
The opposition party, which formed an alliance with nearly 10 parties in the RK Nagar bypoll, was not even able to get the deposit back,” the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said.
Commenting on Dhinakaran’s claim of capturing power in the next three months, Palaniswami said, “Dhinakaran may not be in power till then,” hinting at the alleged Two Leaves symbol bribery case.
Similarly, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam also hit out at Dhinakaran and refuted his claims. “Dhinakaran has been claiming that he introduced me to the AIADMK. But, I joined the party in 1980 as a ward member and he joined the party in 1999. When I was a 19-year-old in the party, he was in LKG,” Panneerselvam said.
During the MGR centenary celebration, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a series of welfare schemes for the people. Palaniswami announced that they would give away one lakh two-wheelers to one lakh working women across the State at 50 percent subsidised price on February 24, the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa. He said it was one of the election promises made by Jayalalithaa during the 2016 Assembly election.