MADURAI: Congress legislator and Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan on Monday said the ruling alliance was prepared to respond to criticism politically and was “waiting for the Chief Minister’s signal” before reacting to remarks made by opposition parties.

Speaking to reporters in Madurai after reviewing development works with officials, the Congress leader said criticism in politics should remain civil and warned against what he termed “uncivilised remarks”.

“If such criticism continues, our alliance is strong and ready to respond. We are waiting for the Chief Minister’s signal,” he said.

The review meeting on development works in Madurai district was held at the Government Guest House under the chairmanship of the minister. Collector M Praveen Kumar, Police Commissioner Abhishek Dixit, Superintendent of Police Aravind and MLAs Karthikeyan, Thangapandi, Kallaanai and Gopinath participated in the meeting.

Later addressing reporters, Viswanathan criticised the DMK, stating that some leaders continued to behave as though they were still in power.

He claimed that people, especially youth, had accepted Chief Minister Vijay’s leadership and said over two crore voters supported him wholeheartedly.

The minister also defended coalition governance and said Congress securing representation in the Cabinet after six decades reflected political change in the State. He added that several young ministers and ministers from Scheduled Caste communities had been inducted into the government.

Viswanathan further said parties such as the CPI and VCK could align with Vijay in the future and claimed a “new political dimension” was emerging in the State.