THENI: After the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, BJP-AMMK candidate TTV Dhinakaran forced O Panneerselvam to resign from the chief minister’s post and split the AIADMK into three factions for political gains, DMK candidate Thanga Tamilselvan said on Monday.
Addressing media persons at Chellampatti, Tamilselvan said that people are giving him a warm welcome and he will see success in the upcoming election. He campaigned at Chellampatti in the Usilampatti Assembly constituency.
On Flying Squad Teams seizing Rs 3.94 crore in cash from BJP candidate Nainar Nagendran’s aides, Tamilselvan asked whether the Income-Tax department will conduct searches in places belonging to BJP candidates.
When asked if Dhinakaran is his mentor, Tamilselvan said, “Dhinakaran is just another candidate. Neither is he my mentor nor am I his protégé. I lost my MLA post because of him.”
“Dhinakaran threatened Panneerselvam to resign. Dhinakaran and Sasikala killed Jayalalithaa and he tried to make Sasikala the chief minister. Further, an inquiry must be conducted into the Kodanad dacoity-cum-murder case,” he charged.
He also stated that Chief Minister MK Stalin's achievements over the past three years would help garner votes from the public. “Dhinakaran lost with a margin of 28,000 votes in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. In such a situation, how can he contest here? Both Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam enacted a drama to destroy the AIADMK and left people confused. However, people will teach them a good lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha election," he added.