CHENNAI: The AIADMK general council on Saturday made it clear that the upcoming Assembly elections will be a direct contest between the Dravidian majors -- AIADMK and the DMK -- and the national parties are just riding piggyback on them and can only remain an audience in polls in the state.
Also, as expected, the AIADMK general council unanimously endorsed Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party’s Chief Minister candidate for the Assembly elections and accorded full powers to him and O Panneerselvam for devising strategies to win the elections besides forming an alliance and finalising seat-sharing with other parties. The general council meet also endorsed the constitution of the 11-member steering committee for the party.
The AIADMK general council meet witnessed sharp remarks on national parties as was witnessed at the launch of the party's campaign for the Assembly elections a fortnight ago. Also, both top leaders -- Palaniswami and Panneerselvam -- underscored the need for hard work and unity among the functionaries and cadre to register a hat-trick of victories in the ensuing elections.
Training his guns against the national parties again, AIADMK deputy coordinator KP Munusamy said, “As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, national parties do not matter because they are yet to take root here. They ride piggyback on either the AIADMK or the DMK. So, the forthcoming elections too are a direct contest between the AIADMK and DMK. The national parties are just an audience because that is what they can do here. When both Dravidian parties are engaged in the electoral battle, the national parties just keep themselves away as an audience to avoid any wounds to themselves. So, our only enemy is the DMK.”
Strongly indicating that VK Sasikala’s release would not have any impact on the AIADMK, Munusamy said “There are no sleeper cells in the AIADMK anymore because the coordinator and joint coordinator are functioning in a manner that would create confidence among the cadre. Some may have sleeper cells in their imagination. No one will go out of the party now.”
Without naming Sasiskala, Munusamy said, “If she gets released, nothing will happen. When she comes out, she has a thousand and odd problems to face. But a section of the media and other forces are trying to create a confusion among us by triggering this issue. We have to be careful with them because we have just three months for the elections and there is a need for concerted efforts by all of us to win the elections.”
Munusamy also said, "There are certain forces that are harbouring thoughts on whether this movement can be finished by this election so that the 50-year Dravidian rule can be brought to an end in Tamil Nadu.”
Palaniswami, in his 40-minute speech, profusely thanked the general council for endorsing him as the Chief Minister candidate of the party. Recalling his association with the AIADMK for over four decades, Palaniswami said, "Chief Minister post is just a responsibility. I deem everyone in the AIADMK as the Chief Minister. I promise that I will remain a faithful footsoldier of the party and a field worker."
Stating that he became the Chief Minister at a time when the party faced serious issues, Palaniswami said "I am not a tall personality like MGR or Amma (Jayalalithaa). By the grace of God and with the blessings of the party's late leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, I accomplished the task given to me to my satisfaction and I will continue to serve the people of Tamil Nadu as well as the party in the coming days. I am confident that I can better my services to the people with the experience gained during the past four years."
Reiterating the importance of completing the formation of Youth Brigades and women's units of the booth-level committees at the grassroots level, Palaniswami said, "After completing this, for every booth, five committees should be formed and engaging persons who can efficiently function will ensure our victory in the elections. I say this out of my personal experience."
Targeting DMK president MK Stalin, Palaniswami said he has been engaging in malicious propaganda against the AIADMK government. The allegations he made against the government were nothing but falsehoods. He also pointed out that the people had given a different verdict for Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections and it came to the fore when byelections were held for Vikravandi and Nanguneri constituencies.
Panneerselvam, in his 30-minute speech, praised the government headed by Palaniswami, saying it had earned the goodwill of the people as it has been functioning on the path shown by the late leader Amma (J Jayalalithaa). "Wherever we go, people say this government is functioning efficiently and unitedly. As far as I know, the ruling party never earned such goodwill so far. What is our duty at this moment is to encash that goodwill as votes for the two leaves symbol in the Assembly elections," Panneerselvam added.