SALEM/ TIRUCHY: Two days after VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s remark against former chief ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said those who speak against MGR would fade away in Tamil Nadu politics. The AIADMK leader was addressing a party induction event in Omalur, where nearly 1,000 members from various political parties joined the party.
Thirumavalavan, while addressing a memorial function for former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Thursday, had said “there is popular opinion that MGR’s entry had brought ‘benefit’ to certain political forces by sowing anti-Karunanidhi sentiment, enabling the infiltration of Brahminism into the Dravidian movement, and paving the way for a Brahmin woman to lead a Dravidian party”. He had also said national parties were not able to grow in the state amidst the fight between these parties.
After his speech stoked controversy, Thirumavalavan told reporters at Tiruchy airport on Saturday that he had no intention of insulting MGR or J Jayalalithaa and that his remarks in Chennai were aimed at explaining how Tamil Nadu politics had revolved around Karunanidhi over the past 60 years. “In my speech, I said that politics was centred on opposing Karunanidhi. I also said that AIADMK, under MGR and Jayalalithaa had functioned largely as a ‘Karunanidhi-opposition’,” he said.
Clarifying, the VCK leader added, “I hold the highest respect for both MGR and Jayalalithaa and have praised them many times. I never confined MGR to a caste. Both are beyond caste boundaries, which everyone knows. My point was that Brahmins or Brahminism never opposed MGR, Jayalalithaa, or AIADMK to the extent they opposed Karunanidhi.”
Meanwhile at the Omalur event, Palaniswami said the party’s manifesto for next year’s Assembly election would ensure benefits for all sections of the society.
Palaniswami also said AIADMK is beyond caste and religion, and claimed there are growing differences among DMK allies and that the alliance may not last even for eight months.
The opposition leader listed road developments, check dams, and farm schemes introduced in Salem during AIADMK rule, and accused the DMK government of delaying the 100-lake scheme out of political vendetta, despite 75% of the work being completed during the AIADMK tenure.