After house arrest charge, EPS now assures probe into M Karunanidhi's death

TIRUCHY: AIADMK general secretary and the Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami has vowed to launch an investigation into the death of DMK patriarch, late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, if the party returns to power.

Addressing party cadre during a campaign in Tiruchy on Monday, the AIADMK chief didn't show signs of backing down from his allegation that MK was held under house arrest during his last days. He has now moved a step further by alleging conspiracies behind the death of M Karunanidhi.

Referring to the 2021 DMK poll promise of an investigation into the death of AIADMK late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in a poll campaign in Tiruchy, EPS said that the AIADMK will initiate a proper investigation into Karunanidhi's death as well.

“I earlier asserted that Karunanidhi was under house arrest, referring to the DMK senior leader A Raja’s audio clip. However, Stalin had denied that I was ridiculing the late leader. If AIADMK returns to power, we will initiate a proper investigation into the death of Karunanidhi and get due punishment to whoever is found guilty," he said.

He further charged that AIADMK laid the foundation for the State's development with several MoUs attracting huge investments, but the DMK president and Chief Minister Stalin is claiming ownership for the growth. The AIADMK government's relentless contributions are behind Tamil Nadu's double-digit economic growth, he claimed.

He underscored the significance of the MoUs signed during late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's regime. "Foreign investment of Rs 2.42 lakh crore was attracted, and the production works had commenced. Similarly, the 2019 ‘Amma government’ signed 304 MoUs and attracted Rs 3.05 lakh crore in investments, driving the State's growth. It is AIADMK that made the foundation for the growth, but DMK claims ownership," he said.

Referring to DMK’s claim of attracting Rs 15 lakh crore investment and generation of 35 lakh jobs through as many as 1,179 MoUs, EPS asked, “How can the employment be generated soon after signing MoUs? It requires a lot of work and would take at least four years to complete the entire process to generate employment opportunities. If so, one lakh jobs would have been generated in each district. No such employment has been created so far," said EPS.

Noting that during the AIADMK regime, the agriculture sector grew by 5.5 per cent, while during the DMK government it declined to 3.5 per cent, he asked, “Is this the real growth?”

Taking a dig at Stalin, he said the CM's trip to Spain, meant to attract investment, was a failure and that he went only for a cycling photo-op. “Everything, including walking, exercising, is a publicity stunt for Stalin, who has been fooling Tamil Nadu people, depriving them of real growth," he said.