Though many political commentators in Tamil Nadu speak about a secret alliance between the ruling AIADMK and the BJP, statements by some of the senior leaders have put a question mark on the ties between these two entities.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy and his cabinet colleagues term the AIADMK’s good relation with the Hindutwa party as a ploy to get funds from the Centre.
But M Thambi Durai, the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha who is also a senior AIADMK leader, misses no opportunities to lambast the BJP.
Durai, who is on a visit to his Karur Lok Sabha constituency these days, minced no words while attacking the BJP on the harshest of words. He said the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre does not release any funds for developmental works in Tamil Nadu.
“There are more than 30,000 villages in Tamil Nadu and none of them have received any funds for implementing the various rural development schemes announced by the Centre. Though much is being said about the Swachha Bharat scheme, villages in my constituency are crying for funds,” Durai told people at Karur on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker got upset when some among the crowd asked him where he was all these years and what development works he had undertaken during the last four and half years. Last week Durai had come down heavily on the BJP-led Government at the Centre by alleging that it was using the CBI to terrorise the Tamil Nadu Ministers and officials with an eye to keep the DMK in good humour.
“During the Congress regime, the CBI was known as Congress Bureau of Investigation. The BJP has made it the Central BJP of Investigation,” the AIADMK leader taunted.
Meanwhile the AIADMK was put in election mode by the party leadership to face the upcoming by-elections to the 20 assembly constituencies.
Though the Election Commission of India is yet to notify the by-polls and announce the schedule, the AIADMK leaders met on Monday and formed high-power committees for all the constituencies which go to the by-polls.
Except Chief Minister Palaniswamy all Ministers and party higher-ups have been entrusted with the task of ensuring the victory of the party candidates from the constituencies.
The 18 disqualified MLAs owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran and VK Sasikala did not disclose their next move vis-à-vis the Madras High Court verdict upholding the Speaker’s order disqualifying them under the provisions of the anti-defection law.
