CHENNAI/TIRUCHY: The ruling DMK on Monday launched a scathing attack on the AIADMK over the participation of its senior leaders in the Hindu Munnani’s Murugan conference in Madurai. The party also criticised the AIADMK for remaining silent during the event, where a video clip criticising Dravidian leaders E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ and C N Annadurai was shown.
In a strongly worded statement, DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi accused the AIADMK and its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami of “completely dissolving” into Hindutva. “Have you replaced Annadurai’s image at the centre of the AIADMK flag with that of Amit Shah,” he asked.
Law Minister S Regupathy, speaking at a public event in Pudukkottai, also condemned the AIADMK’s presence at the event. “Leaders who attend such meetings do not deserve to invoke Annadurai’s name. It is a betrayal of Dravidian values,” he said.
Former AIADMK ministers RB Udhayakumar, Sellur Raju, Kadambur Raju, and KT Rajenthra Bhalaji were among those who attended the event. Bharathi questioned what leaders like MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa would have done had they been alive today.
“The absence of capable leadership in the AIADMK has paved the way for such insults to Periyar and Anna to be tolerated,” he said. The DMK leader further criticised AIADMK leaders for listening silently to speeches by Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and former BJP state president K Annamalai, who allegedly made comments against minorities.
“Is the AIADMK endorsing hate speeches,” he asked. Referring to the presence of senior leader SP Velumani at an RSS centenary event, Bharathi questioned whether Palaniswami was planning to take shelter in Nagpur, the RSS headquarters, next.