CHENNAI: In a clear message to party workers ahead of the Assembly election next year, DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin has said candidates for the polls would be decided by the party high command and that it is the responsibility of the district secretaries to ensure their victory, even as the party condemned the BJP-led union government for “misusing” central investigating agencies for “vendetta politics” and vowed to legally face it, apart from taking the issue to the people’s court.
In a meeting of the party’s district secretaries here on Saturday, Stalin instructed the ministers to spend more time in their districts instead of remaining in Chennai and asked the MLAs to visit every ward and village in their respective constituencies.
Stalin told the participants that the party’s greatest strength lies in its well-established administrative structure, which extends down to the grassroots level. He stressed on the importance of continuously revitalising this organisational framework over time.
The DMK leader alleged that the union government misused its agencies to intimidate parties such as the AIADMK to sign up for an alliance with the BJP. “The BJP is making efforts to establish its presence in Tamil Nadu. To achieve this, it has gained control over the AIADMK through coercive tactics. In fact, Edappadi K Palaniswami fears his leadership would become untenable should he reject the alliance with the saffron party,” Stalin said.
The meeting also adopted four resolutions, including the one condemning the union government which is creating an “undeclared Emergency”.
The resolution read, “This meeting condemns the union government for interfering with autonomous institutions, including the judiciary, thereby undermining their independent functioning.”
It stated that the ED, CBI, and IT departments, the agencies expected to operate impartially, are now being “misused by the union government against opposition parties for vendetta politics”. This “misuse” has drawn censure from both the high court and the Supreme Court.
The meeting also resolved to confront the BJP-led government’s “misuse of central probe agencies against DMK functionaries for politically-motivated actions” through lawful means and reach out to the people on the “abuse of power” by the centre and vowed to take on the saffron party and its allies in the hustings.
DMK leaders, including K Ponmudy and V Senthil Balaji, are under ED’s gaze in connection with separate cases.
Stalin said the DMK had faced several trials in its long journey and those who could not politically beat the party would attempt intimidation tactics. “Hence, let us politically face the BJP’s threats,” he said.
It also decided to conduct public meetings at 1,244 places across the state to highlight the achievements of the DMK’s four-year rule.
Also, it was announced that the party’s general council meeting will be held in Madurai on June 1.
The meeting also passed a resolution condoling the death of innocent civilians at Pahalgam (J&K) and also the recent passing away of Pope Francis.