COIMBATORE: Amid calls from party leaders for Udhayanidhi Stalin to be given a Cabinet berth, the DMK youth wing chief and Chepauk-Triplicane MLA on Sunday said he did not want to become a minister or deputy chief minister. “I would rather act as a bridge between the cadre and the Chief Minister (his father),” he said at the party’s new membership inaugural event in Coimbatore.
Stressing that he wanted to support CM MK Stalin, he claimed the DMK would have a sweeping victory in the local body polls. “After I assumed the post of youth wing secretary, I travelled across TN and recruited 24 lakh new members to the party. Our leader has now asked us to recruit 2 crore new members into the party,” he said.
Noting that, despite the good response to his campaign, Coimbatore disappointed him in the Assembly elections as the party came a cropper, he said “Lack of party unity in Coimbatore was also a reason for our setbacks in the polls. The party will take action against those who acted against the party.”
‘Velumani will be sent to jail for corruption’
Udhayanidhi later said he would stay and work for 10 days in Coimbatore, if the people of Coimbatore gave the DMK a rousing victory in urban local body poll. Slamming SP Velumani, Udhayanidhi said, “He secured victory by giving cash for votes with money earned through corruption. He will be sent to the prison soon for corruption.”