AIADMK in disarray, BJP swallowing it, claims Udhayanidhi

CHENNAI: Deputy Chief Minister and DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday accused the BJP of fragmenting the AIADMK into multiple factions.

In contrast, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami charged that the DMK would eventually engulf its alliance partners.

Addressing a meeting of party office-bearers in Chengalpattu district, Udhayanidhi said Palaniswami had been on a bus campaign for nearly three months and, during one such event, an ambulance was stopped, its driver threatened, and passengers were delayed. He said that videos went viral and drew widespread criticism from the public.

Udhayanidhi asserted that whenever ambulances appear during DMK meetings, the party makes way immediately. He added pointedly that the AIADMK itself was now in a state where it "travels only in an ambulance" due to its dependence on the BJP.

Responding to Palaniswami's charge that he had issued a death threat, Udhayanidhi clarified that he had wished him a long life and urged that he continue as AIADMK's general secretary permanently.

"That would be the best service he can render to Tamil Nadu. It will also make our job easier, because only he is fit to lead a fractured party," he said.

Referring to the disintegration of the AIADMK, Udhayanidhi said multiple factions had emerged since the death of Jayalalithaa, including those led by O Panneerselvam, TTV Dhinakaran, VK Sasikala and Deepa Jayakumar. He pointed out that even veteran leader and former Minister KA Sengottaiyan, once a senior figure in the party, had now been sidelined and pushed into a separate camp.

"Today, whatever the factions or even new splinter groups, all have ended up functioning under the BJP's umbrella," he charged.

He also mocked Palaniswami's statewide campaign titled ‘Makkalai Kaapom, Thamizhagathai Meetpom’, saying the former Chief Minister should first "rescue the AIADMK from the BJP's grip.”