It was DMK that betrayed Tamils, not BJP, says EPS

SALEM: Hitting out at chief minister M K Stalin for accusing the BJP led Union govt of betraying Tamil Nadu, AIADMk general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami alleged that it was DMK that has betrayed TN and Tamils.

"When G K Moopanar (late Tamil Maanila Congress founder) had a chance to become Prime Minister, it was Karunanidhi (Late chief minister) who spoilt it," EPS said at an election meeting in Omalur, Salem on Friday. The remark was in response to Stalin's charge that the delimitation bill would render TN politically irrelevant and that there would be no PM emerging from the state in future.

"It was DMK which refused to support late President Abdul Kalam when he was the frontrunner for a second term. Even when CP Radhakrishnan contested in the election for the vice president, DMK opposed him," EPS said. "Isn't C P Radhakrishnan a Tamil?" he asked alleging that Stalin's statement on welfare of Tamils was hypocritic.

"For Stalin, only his family members are Tamils. The rest are not," EPS said.

EPS defended BJP's move to table the delimitation bill, dimissing Stalin's black-shirt protest as a bid to dupe the people with "slander and lies." He pointed to home minister Amit Shah's assurance that Tamil Nadu's representation would in fact ‘rise from 7.18% to 7.23%' after delimitation. He framed the election as a battle between "AIADMK's Tamil pride" and "DMK's corruption and betrayal."

He then promised welfare measures if voted back to power— free fridges, silk sarees for women, subsidies for auto drivers, and concrete houses for poor, while pledging to eradicate drugs and roll back what he described as crippling taxes.

EPS closed with a personal appeal: "This is our district. I am one of your family. You can meet me anytime, unlike Stalin. Vote for NDA candidates by supporting the two leaves symbol," he said.

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