'Will recover hawala funds, end DMK rule': AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami amid Tamil Nadu assembly polls

CHENNAI: In a sharp escalation of his attack on DMK, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday accused chief minister M K Stalin and his cabinet colleagues of "large-scale corruption" and alleged that "illicit funds were routed abroad through hawala channels".

At a rally at Ambattur in Chennai as part of his ‘Makkalai Kappom, Thamizhagathai Meetpom' campaign, Palaniswmai said if voted to power, AIADMK will trace and recover ill-gotten wealth of ministers and use the retrieved money for public welfare schemes.


"AIADMK will return to power. We will seize the hawala money and bring it back to the state to finance schemes for people," he said. He pointed to the Madras high court direction to register a case based on a report by Enforcement Directorate alleging corruption in the municipal administration department headed by K N Nehru. EPS said the CM was "blabbering out of fear" following the HC order against his cabinet colleague.

"Who is the traitor? It is you and your family that betrayed the people of the state," he said, countering Stalin for calling him "a traitor" at the Madurai public meeting earlier in the day.

The AIADMK leader said Stalin avoided attending the assembly when he spoke for two-and-a-half hours on the interim budget on Thursday. "He ran away and hid instead of replying to my questions because he had no answers," EPS alleged.

Reiterating his charge that Stalin govt borrowed 5.50 lakh crore over the past five years, increasing state's debt from 4.85 lakh crore in 2021 to more than 10 lakh crore, Palaniswami said TN was now among the leading states in terms of borrowings, a burden that would ultimately fall on people.

Despite borrowing more than any previous govt, the present dispensation failed to implement development schemes, he said, and alleged that CM was exploiting the state exchequer for personal publicity and building a false narrative. Further, he criticised govt on "law and order concerns" and the absence of a director general of police.