CHENNAI: AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Thursday lambasted TNCC president KS Alagiri for his comment that the results of the urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu have put a question mark over the future of the AIADMK.
“The Congress, which lost power in Tamil Nadu in 1967, has failed to return to power for 55 years, and spent most years riding on the back of the DMK and the AIADMK in elections to win a few seats. But Alagiri has said the AIADMK has no future after the urban local body elections,” Panneerselvam said in a statement here.
The AIADMK leader added that of the 16 general elections to the State Assembly since 1952, the AIADMK has won six times and was in power for 30 years, i.e, during the past seven decades, Congress ruled the State for 15 years, while the DMK ruled for 22 years.
“The AIADMK has faced both victory and defeat, and has never been disheartened in the face of defeat; instead, it has always returned with vigour. The party faced a big rout in the 1996 Assembly elections but secured a massive victory in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. It again faced defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections but became the formidable opposition in the 2006 Assembly elections and later won two successive Assembly elections in 2011 and 2016, besides becoming the third-largest party in Parliament in 2014. Again, the AIADMK lost power in 2021 on a slender margin,” Panneerselvam recalled.
“The Congress, which has no strength to stand on its own, has no locus standi to speak about the AIADMK,” he said.