CHENNAI: Lashing out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on many counts, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday called the former a coward who failed to condemn the BJP-led union government in the tungsten mining issue and also failed to raised his voice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah for belittling revolutionary leader BR Ambedkar.
Stalin also charged that betrayal was the watchword of Palaniswami throughout his political career, whereas the DMK stood by its ideologies and made sacrifices to realise them.
The DMK president made these remarks while addressing the executive committee meeting of the party held at the party headquarters. Stalin was responding to the recent remarks of Palaniswami about the DMK government and his claims that the AIADMK had bettered its vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“Did the cowardly Palaniswami condemn the BJP-led government for the tungsten mining? Did he even raise his voice against Amit Shah who insulted Ambedkar? Does he have the courage to speak against the Prime Minister?” Stalin said, adding that when it comes to the DMK, he shouts in the Assembly and outside the House.
“No matter how loud Palaniswami speaks, everyone will remember his betrayals and crimes. I challenge him..DMK means its ideologies and the sacrifices made to realise them. What is your basis in politics? Nothing but betrayal. You have betrayed those who made you CM. You remained a spectator when the bungalow of Jayalalithaa was looted,” Stalin said.
He also said Palaniswami chose to stay away from the alliance (of the BJP) because his party wouldn’t get any votes if that alliance continued. Later, afraid of cases, Palaniswami maintained a secret alliance with the BJP and even now, Palaniswami remains panicky when he thinks of their Delhi masters, Stalin claimed.
In the 2019 LS polls, the AIADMK contested 20 constituencies and got 19.4% of the votes. In the 2024 election, it contested 34 constituencies and got only 20.4% votes. The AIADMK should have got 32.98%, but it secured 12.58% less votes in 2024. In a nutshell, the AIADMK, which secured an average of 4.16 lakh votes per constituency in 2019, got only 2.61 lakh votes in 2024, which means the AIADMK led by EPS has lost an average of 1.5 lakh votes in each constituency, Stalin said.
The DMK president further said DMK cadre should tell people that the AIADMK and the BJP are great dangers to Tamil Nadu and should also explain who should not come to power in the state. Stalin also exhorted the party cadre to strive to ensure the DMK wins 200 constituencies in the 2026 Assembly election.
The executive committee meeting adopted 12 resolutions: the release of Tamil Nadu fishermen and their boats by Lanka; condemning the union government for tungsten mining issue and for failing to disburse funds for Samagra Shiksha scheme. Resolutions urging the union government to give up the one-nation one-poll idea and disbursal of financial assistance for restoration works in areas affected by Cyclone Fengal were also adopted. Another resolution condemned Union Home Minister Amit Shah for belittling Ambedkar.
