SALEM/TIRUPATTUR: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that properties of VK Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran were confiscated as per the law, following court orders. Speaking to media persons after a discussion with party office-bearers in Omalur in Salem district on Wednesday evening, Palaniswami said that the question on their property confiscation should be directed towards District Collectors. He added, the State government had no connection in this regard.
On the party expelling cadre who met Sasikala, Palaniswami said that it was usual in every party. If any cadre is involved in anti-party activities, they will be expelled, he added. When asked about Sasikala’s probable visit to AIADMK party headquarters in Chennai, the Chief Minister said, “Minister D Jayakumar and AIADMK deputy coordinator, KP Munusamy, had clearly made comments on this.”
“If people from the AMMK want to join the AIADMK, the party high command will decide on it. TTV Dhinakaran tried to break the party and topple this government by taking away 18 MLAs from our party. But his attempts failed. There is no problem within the AIADMK. DMK is the one trying to spread rumours that there is a problem,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Palaniswami held campaigns at Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Jolarpet and Tirupattur town. There, he accused the Opposition parties of carrying out a ‘misinformation campaign’ against the government on the safety of minorities in the State. He said that his government will ensure ‘full security’ to the minorities, and that his party had never played the religious/caste card in politics. He also enlisted various measures and welfare schemes implemented by the government for the improvement of minorities in the State.
Sharpening his attacks on the DMK and its president MK Stalin, Palaniswami said that the DMK’s first family never bothered about the welfare of the people, but only their own interests. He said that Stalin has been visiting and distributing welfare assistance to people in his own constituency, Kolathur, but not in other places. “Unlike him, we are considering all the 234 Assembly segments as our own and treating them equally. We are providing welfare assistance and implementing projects and schemes not only in those segments we won from, but also where we were defeated,” the Chief Minister said.
Raising the issue of Rajiv assassination convicts, Palaniswami pointed out that late M Karunanidhi had chaired a Cabinet meeting in 2000, when he was the CM, to pass a resolution seeking enforcement of the (death) sentence to the convicts except Nalini. “You can’t escape it. I have the evidence with me. Wherever you want, I will come and show it. It can be placed before the public because they are the best judges,” the Chief Minister said.
He went on to describe Stalin’s outreach programme as mere ‘drama’. “Why couldn’t he do this when he was a minister or the Deputy Chief Minister? In the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, too, he began to sit on the thinnai (a platform before traditional houses) and what happened to the petitions he received?” he ridiculed. He also addressed several meetings in Ranipet and Vellore districts where he launched scathing attacks on Stalin and Dhinakaran. He accused the latter of colluding with DMK and hatching conspiracies to trouble AIADMK.
Speaking at Salem later, he said, “There is no problem in AIADMK-PMK alliance talks. In the places where I am campaigning, people are turning up in large numbers. We will come to power again after the upcoming elections.” He added that the media had misunderstood Minister SP Velumani’s statements regarding problems in the party. He said, “There are some issues within the party functionaries in an area. The minister said that the problem between brothers will be solved.”
Knitting unit worker held for hoax bomb call to CM house
The Salem police and bomb squad personnel on Wednesday searched residences of the Chief Minister at Nedunchalai Nagar in Salem city and in his native village Siluvampalayam following a bomb threat call from Chennai. After hours of search, the threat was declared a hoax call. Police traced the number to one M Anbu alias Anbazhagan (47) of Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai. Tiruppur police arrested Anbazhagan, a knitting unit worker, and handed him over to a special team from Salem. Responding to a question on the bomb threat call, Palaniswami said, “I will not fear any kind of threats.”
EPS condoles Siddha doctor’s demise
Chennai: Expressing grief over demise of Siddha doctor from Salem, Sivaraj Sivakumar, Palaniswami said, “His demise is an irreparable loss to the Siddha branch of medicine. For many generations, his family has been treating people with Siddha medicine, and clarifying doubts through TV channels.”
CM grants Rs 3L aid to kin of 57 police personnel
Chennai: The Chief Minister on Wednesday condoled the death of 57 TN police personnel during the recent past due to accidents or illness. He also granted assistance of Rs 3 lakh each to the bereaved families.
Kirubananda Variyar family thanks CM
Vellore: Family members of spiritual guru Kirubananda Variyar on Wednesday thanked CM Edappadi K Palaniswami for announcing the guru’s birth anniversary (August 25) as a State event. The guru’s relatives, Pugazhanar, Elavarkuzhali and Babu, met Palaniswami in Vellore city and expressed their gratitude.