Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday dared chief minister M K Stalin to declare that anyone can rise to become party president or chief minister in DMK based on merit.Responding to Stalin’s earlier remark that opposition parties were `recycling the old charge’ of dynastic politics, EPS said that only members of Stalin’s family who occupy key posts in the party as well as DMK govt.
In contrast, EPS said he came from a humble background and rose to become the AIADMK’s general secretary and Tamil Nadu’s chief minister. “Will Stalin dare say that anyone in his party who works hard can become the leader or CM?” he asked while addressing a public meeting at Virugambakkam organised to mark AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran’s 109th birth anniversary. He made a similar charge at an event organised by a media house in Chennai.Taking a dig at the DMK’s hierarchy, EPS questioned why a senior leader like Duraimurugan, a long-time legislator, was never considered for the deputy chief minister’s post. EPS said `DMK’s entrenched dynastic politics’ would end within two months. “People and govt employees are waiting for the elections. They will give a fitting reply to the DMK for deceiving them with hollow poll promises,” he said, expressing confidence that the AIADMK would return to power with over 210 seats.EPS also challenged Stalin to a public debate listing the development schemes of both the DMK and previous AIADMK regimes. “Let the people be the judge,” he said, alleging that several current ministers were involved in serious corruption and would face consequences once the AIADMK returns to power.Countering the DMK’s charge that the AIADMK was a “slave” to the BJP, EPS referred to DMK MP Kanimozhi’s recent meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and asked whether DMK had shifted its headquarters to Delhi. He said `squabbles’ between DMK and Congress leaders exposed cracks in the alliance. “There are doubts whether the alliance would hold on until the elections,” he said.Recalling the party’s first phase of poll promises, including the Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to all ration cardholders, EPS announced that if voted back to power, the AIADMK govt would waive loans taken by differently abled persons from cooperative banks.He said that an extensive list of welfare schemes for auto drivers would be announced in the manifesto.
