ERODE: By winning the by-elections, we must teach a lesson to those who are colluding with our arch rivals and working against the AIADMK, interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami told his supporters on Friday.
Addressing functionaries and leaders who have been appointed to oversee election work, Palaniswami said, “This election is important for us and we should not let the votes scatter. No one can defeat us except ourselves. We must bury our differences and work for the common goal.”
He added, “Trials and tribulations are not new to us. AIADMK has reached this place after crossing many hurdles. Even today some people are working against AIADMK and have joined hands with our opponents . This election should teach a lesson to them.”
Further, the former chief minister advised booth committee in-charges to be in constant touch with the members “The in-charges must ensure that we do not lose the votes we got last time. Each booth should get 50 votes more than what our alliance got in 2021. I have received information that about 25,000 voters have moved out of Erode East for several reasons, but have not changed their address in the voters list. We must collect all information like the exact number of voters in each booth. Make this your top priority,” Palaniswami said.
AIADMK sources said Palaniswami has appointed sub-committees headed by former ministers and district secretaries for five zones ( Agraharam, Ashokapuram, Karungalpalayam, Periyar Nagar and Veerappanchatram) in the constituency.
For Periyar Nagar, where DMK minister and Erode strongman S Muthusamy stays, Palaniswami has appointed his aide and Salem suburban district secretary Elangovan as in-charge. He also gave new mobile phones to booth in charges so that they can be in constant touch with Elangovan.
Sources added that the AIADMK’s campaign would focus on DMK’s failure to fulfil its election promises and the lack of development projects for Erode East.