Palaniswami rejects ‘secret alliance’ claim, attacks TVK over Tamil Nadu bypolls

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday rejected allegations of a “secret alliance” between the AIADMK and DMK and criticised the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) over the upcoming by-elections in Tamil Nadu.

Palaniswami said the political contest remained open, with several parties, including the TVK, preparing to contest the October 6 bypolls in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies. The Election Commission has scheduled polling for October 6 and counting for October 9.

Speaking to reporters, the AIADMK chief described the TVK as an inexperienced political organisation and accused it of engineering what he called “unnecessary” by-elections after two AIADMK MLAs resigned and joined the ruling party.

Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, who had won Madurantakam and Dharapuram respectively on AIADMK tickets in the April Assembly elections, resigned as MLAs and later joined the TVK. The ruling party has fielded both former AIADMK legislators in the bypolls.

Palaniswami alleged that persuading sitting MLAs to resign amounted to disregarding the mandate previously given by voters. He said the public would hold the ruling party accountable for the vacancies and resulting by-elections.

He also criticised the state government for raising political controversies instead of concentrating on public welfare and policy issues.

The remarks came amid a political row over Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s recent Assembly speech, in which he referred to controversies surrounding previous DMK governments, including the Sarkaria Commission report, the Veeranam water project and alleged irregularities in TASMAC and municipal tenders.

The October 6 bypolls have now developed into five-way contests involving the AIADMK, DMK, TVK, Left parties and Naam Tamilar Katchi. In Madurantakam, the candidates include TVK’s Maragatham Kumaravel, DMK’s I Paranthaman, AIADMK’s K Kanitha Sampath, CPI(M)’s P Suganthi and NTK’s K Janaki Raman. In Dharapuram, the contest includes TVK’s P Sathyabama, DMK’s S Suganya, AIADMK’s K Bhanumathi, CPI’s P Lakshmanan and NTK’s M Karthika.

with inputs from PTI