EPS flexes muscle at party general council

CHENNAI: The AIADMK led alliance would win 210 seats in the 2026 Assembly polls as the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has lost its popularity, party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Wednesday.

He was addressing the members of the party’s top decision-making bodies — the Executive Committee and General Council that met here. Palaniswami said the DMK has been critical of his party’s alliance with the BJP, but “they cannot say anything about the golden rule of AIADMK regime.”

“The AIADMK-led alliance will win 210 seats. You all should extend your cooperation for us emerging victorious in next year’s polls,” he said.

Maintaining that the party was built and protected by the late chief ministers MG Ramachandran (founder) and J Jayalalithaa, he said, “Peace, prosperity and development was their motto and because of their welfare initiatives to the people of Tamil Nadu, today no one can touch the party.”

Attacking the DMK, Palaniswami said the Stalin-led government has lost its popularity among the public and in view of the forthcoming Assembly polls, the DMK had announced that it would give away 10 lakh free laptops to students.

AIADMK will lose again: Bharathi

DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi, on Wednesday, said that the people of Tamil Nadu would defeat the AIADMK in the 2026 Assembly election as well, asserting that the resolutions passed at the AIADMK General Council meeting exposed AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami as being subservient to the BJP.

Condemning the resolutions, Bharathi said they clearly showed Palaniswami was acting as a 'slave of the BJP'. Criticising the resolution that vested full authority in Palaniswami to decide on alliances for the forthcoming election, he said the AIADMK leader had remained silent on those removed from the party who later met Union Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

He remarked sarcastically that the resolution projected Palaniswami as a “Don” within the AIADMK. “People know very well that he is only a dummy,” he added.

Bharathi said the General Council had failed to condemn the Union government, which he alleged had betrayed Tamil Nadu on several issues, including Metro Rail projects and the moisture-level norms for paddy procurement.

Defending the State’s debt position, he said that although Tamil Nadu’s overall debt stood at Rs 9.20 lakh crore, it remained within the limits of the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Referring to the Thiruparankundram Deepam issue, he said that even 120 MPs from North India had supported the DMK’s resolution against Justice Swaminathan’s remarks. However, the AIADMK General Council had passed a resolution supporting what he termed the BJP’s “riot politics.” “People will give a suitable lesson in the forthcoming election,” he said.

Condemning the approach of the BJP-led Union government, Bharathi said that not just the DMK but the entire State was opposed to the Centre’s “sectarian policies.” He added that the Union government continued to “betray and deceive Tamil Nadu.”