Won’t sacrifice self-respect, says Velumani

COIMBATORE: A day after party organising secretary D Jayakumar said there was no alliance between the AIADMK and BJP, another senior leader SP Velumani, who belongs to the inner circle of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, said the Dravidian party would never sacrifice its self-respect for the sake of alliance with the Centre-ruling saffron party. Velumani is a party strongman from western TN, a region where BJP fancies its chances in the coming general election.

Former AIADMK minister SP Velumani on Tuesday said the AIADMK leaders will never forego their self-respect for the sake of an alliance with the BJP. Addressing party functionaries in Coimbatore, the opposition party’s whip made a scathing attack on BJP state president K Annamalai by saying that he does not have the locus standi to speak on leaders like CN Annadurai, Jayalalithaa and ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy.

“It is unwise for Annamalai to reel out lies by twisting history in public forums on Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai,” he said, further adding AIADMK under the leadership of Edappadi K Palaniswami will win all the 40 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. Later, while addressing reporters, Velumani reiterated that an alliance would be formed only with like-minded parties. “For us, principles are important. Only Palaniswami lives up to protect the principles of leaders like Periyar, CN Annadurai and MGR,” he said.

Taking a dig at DMK, Velumani said the DMK has become a family party and Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin became a leader without working for the party. He also said the DMK has boycotted Coimbatore by not bringing in any new schemes.