MADURAI: Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Saturday said that after the state Assembly elections, Edappadi K Palaniswami will be removed from the post of AIADMK general secretary by BJP as they have already chosen an alternative person for the post.
Addressing a cadre induction meeting in Madurai, Stalin said if he (EPS) had refused to join hands with BJP, they would have changed him immediately. The Madurai meeting was organised by former chief minister O Panneerselvam for inducting thousands of cadres, especially from AIADMK, into DMK.
Stalin said, “Palaniswami should notice what happened in Bihar – where even 10-time CM Nitish Kumar resigned and would be replaced by a BJP candidate. Nitish was leading the NDA alliance in Bihar. If BJP’s pattern of working is studied, it could be inferred that Palaniswami’s fate will be similar to Nitish Kumar in Bihar and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. But EPS (NDA bloc) won’t win the election.”
The CM said Palaniswami believed that BJP would save him, “so he mortgaged the party to BJP. But BJP never did any good to anyone and will not do any good to AIADMK and to Tamil Nadu”.
Stalin said Palaniswami would be remembered for “betrayal” while alleging that BJP would “drain the blood” out of AIADMK. “Even in recent NDA public meetings, PM Narendra Modi never used the word ‘AIADMK’. Even the NDA alliance is sure of DMK’s victory in 2026 polls which was indicated by changing Governor R N Ravi from TN,” Stalin added.
Describing the occasion as an unusual political moment, Stalin, who termed Panneerselvam an example of ‘loyalty’, said even he (OPS) himself might not have imagined standing on a DMK stage. “You (OPS) have come back to the mother movement after raising your voice for political rights.”
Recalling a debate in the TN Assembly in 2008 on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, Stalin said the DMK’s party mouthpiece, Murasoli, had then described Panneerselvam as “Pachai Tamizhar Panneerselvam”. He added that the late DMK patriarch, M Karunanidhi, had also praised him during that period.
On the eve of International Women’s Day, Stalin also criticised the union government for the increase in LPG cylinder prices. He alleged that the prices had been reduced before the 2024 parliamentary elections and raised again afterwards.
Never created faction: OPS
Addressing the gathering, Panneerselvam said that throughout his nearly 50-year political career, he had remained loyal to the leadership he served and committed to the responsibilities entrusted on him. “I have never created a faction on my own within the party. I worked only for the welfare of the organisation,” he said.
He alleged that AIADMK no longer functioned in the spirit envisioned by its founder MGR and later by J Jayalalithaa.