KANCHEEPURAM: DMK leader and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin kick-started his Assembly poll campaign here on Monday and asserted that the election is a battle to drive out AIADMK chief Palaniswami.
The poll was about not allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he said. Alleging that the AIADMK chief Palaniswami is PM Modi’s “slave”, Udhayanidhi claimed that the Leader of the Opposition’s “ideological mentors are top BJP leaders” rather than the party’s founding legends.
Hence, the Assembly election is all about “driving out” AIADMK chief Palaniswami. Can we allow PM Modi, Amit Shah in Tamil Nadu?” he asked, adding people would not allow it. Further, he said, “In this election, we must prove that Tamil Nadu is always out of Delhi’s control. Tamil Nadu must completely sideline BJP, which is betraying the state; this must be done.”
He listed out the DMK regime’s welfare schemes, including the CM’s Breakfast Scheme and the fare-free bus travel scheme for women. He listed out infra schemes implemented for Kancheepuram and appealed to people to support DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol. Udhayanidhi visited Anna’s memorial and paid floral tributes to the party icon before launching his campaign.
He said that while he started the campaign in Kancheepuram, CM Stalin is set to launch it in Tiruvarur on Tuesday, the hometown of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. However, Palaniswami started his campaign from Mylapore, a constituency in Chennai allotted to the BJP, he said.