CHENNAI: TNCC president and MLA K Selvaperunthagai, and DMK deputy general secretary and MP A Raja on Thursday criticised AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for his remarks, comparing the state Congress chief with a beggar wearing patched clothes.
Palaniswami had made the remark on Wednesday while criticising Selvaperunthagai for his association with different parties in the past.
The TNCC president, in a post on social media, said the remark insulted not just an elected representative, but also lakhs of poor people. He said seeking people’s trust in democracy cannot be equated with begging. He said Palaniswami, who rose to power with the votes of the marginalised, has now distanced himself from people’s hardships.
“You hide your face in Delhi and travel in someone else’s luxury car. How will you understand the suffering of the poor?” he asked in a reference to EPS leaving in a luxury car after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
Meanwhile, DMK MP Raja, on Thursday, said, “Palaniswami has been continuously using slander against leaders of DMK coalition. His criticism, comparing Selvaperunthagai to a beggar, is indecency at its peak.” He said Palaniswami was speaking out of frustration since no party has heeded to his request to join the AIADMK alliance.
“Is it appropriate for someone who covered his face after meeting Shah to use the word ‘beggar’?” asked Raja. “Palaniswami, who joined hands with the BJP, a party that is deceiving TN, has no standing to question the TNCC chief’s loyalty,” he added.
Condemning the remark, Tirunelveli city congress unit, led by district president K Sankar Pandian, garlanded EPS portrait with slippers and beat it with a broom in front of the party office.