VILLUPURAM: Lashing out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami days after leading an open rebellion against him, Mailam MLA C Ve Shanmugam on Sunday said 31 of the 47 Assembly seats the party won in this year’s Assembly election were in the northern region, and that the victory was made possible due to “the alms” handed out by its ally, the PMK.
He said if the PMK was not in the alliance, Palaniswami would have struggled but still would have won from his seat. Addressing media persons in Tindivanam, Shanmugam accused Palaniswami of “staging a drama” with the conflict playing within the AIADMK to facilitate the political entry of his son. While the AIADMK has traditionally opposed dynastic politics, it is now falling into the hands of a single family, he alleged.
Pointing to the party functionaries who recently defected to the ruling TVK, Shanmugam said the AIADMK is now collapsing like a pack of cards. Claiming the AIADMK now having reached a stage where no one is allowed to raise questions, the rebel MLA faulted the party leadership for failing to acknowledge the reasons behind the party’s electoral defeats despite the grassroots functionaries understanding them.
Further, Shanmugam said J Jayalalithaa, one of the “tallleaders” of the AIADMK, owned up for the party’s defeat in the elections but soon steered it to victory by forging alliances.
Palaniswami, however, has been refusing to take responsibility for repeated electoral defeats, and has been failing to take corrective measures, he added.
Reiterating the demand for convening the party general council meeting or “at least an executive committee meeting” to discuss the reasons for the AIADMK’s “continuous defeats” in elections and take corrective measures, Shanmugam said, “failing this, we would be compelled to pursue our own course of action”.
Reacting to Shanmugam’s remarks, AIADMK’s Villupuram district secretary R Pasupathy said that the former minister had levelled several allegations against the party’s general secretary, which led to his removal from party post.
The rebel MLA is now aiming to secure a ministerial berth under a “future” TVK government, he added.
Actor Gautami Tadimalla quits AIADMK
Chennai: Actor and AIADMK deputy propaganda secretary Gautami Tadimalla resigned from the party on Sunday. Her exit comes at a time when several AIADMK functionaries are shifting allegiance to the ruling TVK. Sources said she is expected to elaborate on the reasons behind her decision in the coming days. In a letter addressed to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, she said, “Taking into consideration the prevailing political circumstances, I relieve myself as a member of the AIADMK and as deputy propaganda secretary in order to devote myself more effectively to social service.” Gautami had quit the BJP in October 2023 and joined the AIADMK on February 14, 2024. During her stint in the BJP, she was entrusted with responsibilities in the Rajapalayam Assembly constituency ahead of the 2021 elections. Sources said she had expected to eventually contest from the constituency in 2026 polls on an AIADMK ticket, but the opportunity did not materialise. ENS