AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has, as of Friday 4th July 2023, criticized state BJP president, K Annamalai for his statement that AIADMK stayed away from the Vikravandi by-polls because they were afraid to lose and come fourth or fifth.
Mr. Palaniswami said he had earlier given reasons for boycotting the by-election. However, speaking to journalists in Coimbatore on Saturday, the leader of Opposition claimed that in the 2024 winning candidate had about 6,800 votes more than the AIADMK nominee did in Vikravandi segment out of Villuppuram Lok Sabha constituency. He joked about Mr. Annamalai’s political sophistication and asked him to tell everyone what favors he got from Tamil Nadu when he became head of BJP.
Furthermore, the AIADMK chief reprimanded Mr. Annamalai for creating a false perception that Tamil Nadu is growing with the change in its party leadership. “On the other hand, it has not grown at all.” In both 2014 and 2024 elections, they contested with other parties as alliances only instead of being regional forces all by themselves’’. While BJP candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan lost to winning DMK nominee by just 42k votes less than AIADMK candidate in Coimbatore parliamentary seat in 2019, BJP Candidate K.Annamalai loses this year more than one lakh votes fewer than winning DMK nominee. Mr Palaniswami explained that The vote percentage for BJP was18.80%in2014 but in2024 it has polled only (18.28%) which is lesser by0 .52 %.”.
People should also remember that during campaign days; there were over a hundred promises made to people by K.Annamalai and it is him that Mr. Palaniswami blames for forcing BJP to establish a coalition government in the centre, despite winning over 300 seats in the 2019 general elections.
When asked about PMK soliciting AIADMK supporters in the Vikravandi by-poll, he said that this was the discretion of PMK leader S.Ramadoss.
As we talk about the combining of various factions of AIADMK, Mr. Palaniswami told us for sure how his party will fair in this matter. The general body of their party had expelled former coordinator O Panneerselvam while former interim general secretary V.Sasikala was never an AIADMK member’, he added. He scoffed at both their statements on mergers. In 2021 statement Sasikala had said I have quit politics and will continue to pray for Jayalalitha’s rule to come back to Tamil Nadu state; yet this reminder did not stop Ms. Sasikala from quitting politics after MGR’s death as mentioned earlier..
The AIADMK leader also warn Annamalai saying that “none of the corrupt Ministers in DMK will be spare when AIADMK comes back to power”. This statement comes after a furore over Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan’s alleged comment on “rampant corruption” within the government.”
