MADURAI/CHENNAI: THE Minister for Cooperation, Sellur K Raju, said that in his opinion V K Sasikala has worked hard to form the government in the state.
Addressing media persons in Madurai on Sunday, Raju said that since he was a minister working under Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, it would not be right to express his personal opinion. “Even though I have personal likes and dislikes, I am remaining silent for party’s sake,” he said.
Referring to Sasikala as Chinnamma, Raju said, “Sasikala has worked hard to form the government in the State. There is no difference of opinion regarding this fact and I will not change my opinion. But in today’s situation, I do not want my opinion to cause any hindrance to the decisions taken by CM Palaniswami and Deputy CM Panneerselvam,” he added.
Charging that the DMK was worse than dengue, Raju said, “When the DMK is in the opposition, they will work for the people but when they come to power they forget the people.”
The beleaguered AIADMK faction led by ousted deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran has described the statement of Sellur Raju that V K Sasikala had played a crucial role in keeping the flock together and the government stable, as a reflection of ‘true sense’ and ‘inner feelings’ of many partymen who are now under the ‘clutches’ of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.
C R Saraswathi, spokesperson of the TTV faction said: “His speech reflects the true sense and inner feelings of many partymen who are under the control of EPS-OPS combine now,” she said.
She added that none would fail to acknowledge, as done by the Cooperation Minister, the fact that Sasikala strove hard for keeping the flock together and ensure the stability of the government.
“Even hours before moving to the prison at Bengaluru, Sasikala made an emotional appeal to party leaders and MLAs to remain united. All that she had in her mind was party’s unity but shockingly, unfortunate things have happened,” Saraswathi said.
Pointing out the significance of the statement of the minister, she said ‘true feelings’ could not be suppressed for long and ‘sleeper cells’ (earlier referred to by Dhinakaran) would soon begin to come out in the open one by one.
Meanwhile, another leader said certain ministers and legislators would have gathered courage to step in to meet Sasikala had the Karnataka prison authorities, allegedly at the instance of TN government, not imposed several restrictions while giving emergency parole to her a few days ago.