2024 Lok Sabha polls: AIADMK will not go with national parties, will be part of ‘special’ alliance, says EPS
MAYILADUTHURAI: The AIADMK will not ally with any national party for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. It will instead be part of a special alliance, the details of which will be revealed soon, said party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami here on Sunday.
Addressing mediapersons after participating in a public meeting in Sirkazhi, the AIADMK leader also criticised the DMK government for “failing” to get the state’s share of River Cauvery water from Karnataka.
“Cauvery water was distributed to delta districts for a couple of months following which it stopped. [As a result], crops began to wilt. The DMK government failed to get the state’s share of river water from Karnataka. (Chief Minister) MK Stalin was too weak to urge Karnataka, where its ally, the Congress, is ruling. The failure resulted in loss of kuruvai crop over lakhs of acres. The farmers are angry,” the former CM said.
CM Stalin does not care about farmers. He is rather interested only in seeking positions of authority for his family and party members at the Centre, Palaniswami further said.
While criticising the state government for the “meagre” amount announced as crop loss relief, Palaniswami pointed out that the previous AIADMK regime protected farmers’ interests with measures like declaration of the Tamil Nadu Protected Special Agriculture Zone by inclusion of the delta districts.
Taking a veiled dig at DMK’s young wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, Palaniswami said, “The DMK promised to ban NEET in Tamil Nadu in the last Assembly election. It, however, only managed to coordinate a signature campaign. While the party’s electoral promises are colossal and attractive, they have not realised anything in reality.”
To Stalin’s claims that Tamil Nadu was leading in various fronts, the AIADMK leader said, “The only aspects the state is leading in are its loans, the non-implementation of projects and the magnitude of corruption by ministers.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds joined the AIADMK in the presence of Palaniswami. Mayiladuthurai district secretary S Pavunraj and Nagapattinam district secretary OS Manian were present.
Palaniswami also visited the Vaithiyanatha Swamy temple in Vaitheeswarankoil and participated in a wedding reception.