COIMBATORE: Reacting to Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin’s charge that AIADMK has split into three or four factions and it is in ICU, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday said the DMK will swallow its allies by cheating them in the name of ideological cohesion and it is the ruling party which is in ICU. “AIADMK is intact and it will prove its unity in the 2026 Assembly election,” Palaniswami said.
Addressing a mammoth crowd at Anamalai near Pollachi on Wednesday evening, Palaniswami said the DMK is spreading canards against the AIADMK through TV channels and newspapers.
“DMK is claiming that their alliance is strong. DMK leader MK Stalin is hoping that his allies will protect him and the alliance, but the people of Tamil Nadu don’t think so. DMK is saying that the party and its allies have a common ideology. If the principles are the same, why should there be different parties? They can just merge with the DMK. The AIADMK and BJP have different ideologies. AIADMK has its own principles, and the party is committed to those principles,” Palaniswami said.
He also charged that DMK has been forced to visit door to door for membership, as it has lost its confidence, and is in ICU now. “DMK is in hospital with the support of a ventilator, and the party will be alive until there is ventilator support,” he said. “DMK alliance will break on its own as communist party leaders have started saying that DMK has failed to implement 90% of its promises made during the 2021 election,” Palaniswami said.
Earlier in the day, Palaniswami met farmers and small entrepreneurs to listen to their grievances at a hotel. During the meeting, Balasubramaniam, a farmer from Vettaikaranpudur, questioned Palaniswami for not lifting the ban on toddy during the AIADMK regime. “If your regime (AIADMK) had lifted the ban, toddy farmers like us would have had a better life. Police have registered 40 cases against me for selling toddy for my livelihood,” he said.
Pollachi MLA V Jayaraman immediately tried to pacify him and asked party functionaries to take him away from the meeting hall. Palaniswami also accused Stalin of failing to follow up with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan regarding implementation of Anamalaiyaru-Nallaru and Pandiyar-Punnampuzha water scheme.