MADURAI/THENI : Claiming that the AIADMK is in an illegal alliance with the DMK, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran asked why AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami was not contesting in the ensuing Lok Sabha poll.
Addressing a gathering in Madurai on Wednesday, Dhinakaran said that Palaniswami has now fielded candidates who once contested against late leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.
“EPS initially fielded Shimla Muthuchozan in Tirunelveli constituency, but later fielded Janshi Rani, a DMK candidate who contested against J Jayalalithaa. Madurai AIADMK candidate Dr Saravanan, who had raised doubts about Jayalalithaa’s candidacy when he was in the DMK earlier, was also given a ticket. Palanisami also fielded Jayaperumal from Ramanathapuram, whose father Paulswamy Thevar was a DMK candidate who had contested against MGR in 1977," he said.
Dhinakaran further said that Palaniswami, who claimed to have a stronghold in the Salem constituency, did not contest the election. However, other important leaders of the BJP and its allies are contesting in the election, he said, and listed out the names of popular leaders such as former Telangana state governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, K Annamalai, L Murugan, Pon Radhakrishnan, Nainar Nagendran, Raadhika Sarathkumar and O Panneerselvam, among others. "OPS went a step further and is contesting on an Independent symbol," he said.
"The AIADMK is in an illegal alliance with DMK. AIADMK wants to split the anti-DMK votes, so they are contesting alone to prevent the BJP and its allies from getting those votes. The DMK and AIADMK do not have a PM candidate. Though there was no PM candidate for AMMK in 2019, we now have a PM face after allying with the BJP," he said.
BJP’s Madurai candidate Raama Sreenivasan was also present.
‘Congress gave Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka with DMK's consent’
The former Congress-led union government handed over Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka with the consent of the DMK, TTV Dhinakaran said in Theni, after paying homage at the Perugamanallur Martyrs' Memorial Hall.
Addressing media persons, Dhinakaran said, "In 1974, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka with the consent of late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. Due to this, our fishermen often get arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making efforts to release them. If elected again, Modi will find a permanent solution for the issue by retrieving the island."
Dhinakaran also paid homage to 16 martyrs, including a woman named Mayakkal, who were killed while resisting the British's Draconic Criminal Tribes Act. "April 3 is observed as the memorial day of the martyrs of Perugamanallur massacre. On this day, I pay homage to the martyrs who lost their lives for justice," he said.