CHENNAI: A day after attending the NDA meeting in New Delhi where he was given prominence, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the achievements of his government during the past nine years as a mark of firming up the alliance with the BJP. He also expressed confidence that the NDA will win 330 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the forthcoming general elections.
Answering queries from reporters in New Delhi, Palaniswami said without discriminating between smaller parties or bigger parties, all allies are being given equal importance in the NDA. He also clarified that at the national level, BJP is leading the NDA but in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK is leading the alliance. On seat-sharing among the alliance parties, Palaniswami said, "We have not gone towards that step".
Later, in Coimbatore airport, when asked about the claims of the BJP leaders that they would be contesting in 25 seats in Lok Sabha elections, Palaniswami said, "Leaders of any political parties would speak like that to encourage their cadres." Questioned whether the AIADMK would decide the number of seats to be allocated to other alliance parties, Palaniswami said, "We will sit together and decide the seat-sharing on the basis of consensus."
Asked whether getting 50% plus votes in the Lok Sabha elections as envisioned by the prime minister is possible since there are other factors like unemployment and rise in prices of essential commodities, the AIADMK leader said, "You have to take into account the development the country has made during the past nine years despite aspects like the coronavirus pandemic. Also, several economies in the world faced challenges while in India, the challenges were tackled well by the NDA government. Besides, across the globe, India’s reputation has grown under Modi's leadership.
On the DMK's charge that the BJP-led government at the Centre does not act in respect of corruption charges like the 'Gutkha case', Palaniswami said, "In the whole of India, it is only the DMK's regime that was dismissed for corruption. During the Congress-led UPA regime (2009-14), DMK leaders K Kanimozhi and A Raja were arrested in the 2G spectrum case. DMK's V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy faced an ED probe. Balaji is now in jail. So, the DMK has no right to comment on AIADMK.”
Questioned about the differences in the NDA partners, Palaniswami said the NDA allies are functioning independently while the allies of DMK are "servile" to the DMK. In the NDA, parties that have unique ideologies have come together for an alliance.
Responding to a question, Palaniswami said till July 18, the party has enrolled 1.72 crore members including the renewals and their target is to enroll two crores of members.
On the Cauvery issue, Palaniswami asked: “Why has Stalin, who is so close to Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, failed to take up the Cauvery water issue and Mekedatu dam issue? Why did Stalin not tell Shivakumar that if a dam is built at Mekedatu, it would affect the livelihood aspects including drinking water and irrigation needs of the 20 districts in Tamil Nadu?.”
Questioned when the AIADMK would open its new office in New Delhi, Palaniswami said it would be in the Tamil month of Aavani (August-September).