DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday asserted that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government remained in power only due to the grace of his party and its allies, and urged party workers to pledge to bring an end to the administration led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
Addressing a gathering in Chennai to welcome more than 1,000 AIADMK workers who joined the DMK, Stalin said he had not opposed his allies' decision to support the TVK after the Assembly elections.
"When they (alliance parties) informed me of their plans, I told them, you may go, it is your choice and your democratic right; I will not stop you. I saw them off with the sole intention of preventing the imposition of President's rule in the state, which could have paved the way for BJP rule in Tamil Nadu," he said.
The former chief minister also reflected on the DMK's political journey since its founding in 1949, highlighting the party's opposition to the Emergency imposed in 1975 despite knowing it could lead to the dismissal of its government.
Stalin recalled that the DMK government was dismissed in 1976 and that the party remained out of power until 1989. He also recounted the electoral setbacks and successes that followed before the party returned to office in 2021. He said he was revisiting the party's history to underline that victory and defeat are recurring features of politics.
"That is why we are proving today that a DMK member is someone who neither goes wild chasing victory, nor loses heart and gives up when facing defeat, but continues to work forever," Stalin said.
It is in this situation, when the party has lost the opportunity to win and when it works as the principal opposition, so many have joined the party under the leadership of Gaja alias Gajendran, AIADMK Kattankolathur-North Union Secretary, who fought Assembly polls form the Chengelpet constituency as the candidate of that party, the DMK chief said.
Further, Stalin said: "You have no reason to worry. You must not forget that the current regime is functioning only due to our grace. We (the DMK-led alliance) faced the election with the determination that we must win; the government must be formed under the leadership of the DMK, and that all opposition parties must be defeated. It is only with the grace of the parties that were in our alliance that this government is functioning today. It is only with the cooperation of the alliance parties, who wished for the DMK to come to power, that this government is running today."
Furthermore, he said: "Let us take a pledge in this event to put a full stop to this government which is functioning due to our benevolence."
Stalin stated that the leaders of the DMK-led alliance parties (including the Left parties) had themselves mentioned in several places that when they came forward to support the TVK, they did so only after informing their alliance leader, DMK President Stalin.
He said that when they were leaving after informing him, he had told them that they might go, as it was their wish and their democratic right, and he would not stop them.
He added that he had sent them off with wishes solely on the principle that President's rule should not be imposed on the state, and through that, the BJP should not come to power in Tamil Nadu.
Reflecting on the DMK's defeat in the Assembly elections, Stalin said electoral setbacks would not deter the party.
"Success and failure will occur. We do not lose our heads in a frenzy over victory, nor do we become disheartened by defeat today," he said, adding, "It is in this context, even though we have lost the opportunity for victory and are no longer in power, that we continue to serve from the position of the opposition."
In the April 23 Assembly elections, the TVK led by actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay won 108 seats, falling 10 short of the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.
The Congress, which won five seats, broke away from the DMK alliance and also backed Vijay. The DMK's allies -- the CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML -- which won two seats each, later extended support to the TVK and enabled the Vijay-led party to stake claim to form the government
(With inputs from PTI)