AIADMK leaders rest after 14-day field work

The ruling AIADMK leaders, who strongly opposed the release of video clips showing former chief minister J Jayalalithaa during treatment reportedly at Apollo Hospital in November 2016, did not raise the issue after the polling. 

The BJP leaders too switched to defending the fall out of the acquittal of DMK MP Kanimozhi and former Union Minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum allocation case. The strong questions initially raised by the AIADMK leaders on the veracity of the video clips, the time when the video was shot and the location were mute after the completion of polling and none of the leaders either from the AIADMK or the BJP took it up on Friday. The statements of VK Sasikala’s family on the location and timing of the video went unchallenged, despite the family members 

continuing their debate over its release.

 All the ministers, MLAs and MPs had been working for the ruling party candidate E Madhusudhanan from the day of nominations and till the polling date. Some of the ministers had travelled in two wheelers amidst the heavy traffic congestion, while some of the MLAs had danced to the tunes of latest Tamil movies to keep the onlookers entertained. For both the workers of the AIADMK and independent candidate TTV Dinakaran, who gave the ruling party a run for its money, the gap between the polling and counting days had come as a welcome respite. 

However, the AIADMK kept up the attack on its rival the DMK, which is celebrating the acquittal of its leaders in the 2G scam. Former minister Vaigai Selvan, who was the party spokesperson, said the victory of the DMK is temporary. He said the DMK had nothing to celebrate since there would be appeals against the verdict in higher courts. It would further move to the next stage till it is decided in the Supreme Court, he said.