On the eve of the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and AMMK founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran in open letters to their party members came down heavily on the ruling DMK and “traitors”.
Referring to the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government at the Centre [2004-14], of which the DMK was a constituent, Mr. Palaniswami said it continued to act against the then Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu, pushing it towards a “financial crisis”.
“Today, the DMK government is inefficient to such an extent that it cannot even defend the two-language policy [in the State]. Despite having many members in both the Houses of Parliament, this government has been inefficient in protecting the rights of Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
Without mentioning anyone by name, he further said: “Can a wolf and a goat stand united? Can weed and crop make up for cultivation? Can a loyalist and a traitor stand together, rubbing shoulders? I can hear you saying no….”
Mr. Dhinakaran, in his letter, said the party and the symbol nurtured by Jayalalithaa had lost their “distinguishing feature gradually” as they remained trapped in the hands of “dishonest people.”
“A group of traitors, which has appropriated the party nurtured by Puratchi Thalaivar [late leader and former Chief Minister] M.G.R. and Idhaya Dheivam Amma [Jayalalithaa] by shedding their blood, has its eyes set only on getting positions for itself,” Mr. Dhinakaran alleged.
Referring to a recent function organised to felicitate Mr. Palaniswami, the AMMK chief said the party members were agitated over the absence of portraits of late M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa on the stage.
He further criticised the DMK government over several issues, including inflation and “deteriorating’ law and order in the State.
