Cornered by alliance queries, Anbumani Ramadoss aborts presser

Right from the beginning of the press meet, the media posed several uncomfortable questions on PMK’s tie-up with AIADMK for Lok Sabha polls seeking explanation from Anbumani. Some of them recalled the PMK’s earlier declarations that they would never forge an alliance with both the Dravidian majors and the party’s strong criticism of the ‘corrupt’ AIADMK government, till recently.

When Anbumani was asked about the corruption charges levelled by him against AIADMK ministers and the petition and proof he submitted to Governor Banwarilal Purohit and now his party joining hands with the same corrupt team, the Dharmapuri MP replied that the charges were under investigation and if they were proved he will be the first person to demand their resignation.

“We still stand by our demands that the corrupt needs to be punished. We have made an alliance, but that does not mean we have compromised our core principles”, said Anbumani.

When asked whether he still believed that AIADMK was a corrupt party Anbumani parried the question and defended stating that let us wait for the investigation to be completed.

Despite repeated questions on the subject demanding a straight response on AIADMK, Anbumani refuse to comment and chose to be evasive.

When asked whether PMK would still insist AIADMK government to stop the conversion of Poes Garden into a memorial for late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Anbumani reportedly lost his cool and refused to answer the question. When insisted for his reply, Anbumani tried to silence the reporter, who posed the question, by saying that he had answered five of his questions and would not reply to any of his questions further.

The ‘five-question norm’ suddenly introduced by Anbumani was not received well by the scribes who continued to shoot questions to him.

Anbumani was visibly upset after one of the journos posed a question on Vishnuprasad, Congress MLA, also the brother-in-law of the PMK youth wing leader. When asked about the criticism of Vishnuprasad that PMK has struck a “deal” with AIADMK, which even their own community members might not vouch, Anbumani replied, “Vishnuprasad is a good friend of mine for 32 years since college days. I do not know why he made such a criticism. Congress might have offered him a seat and for that he should not have spoiled the relationship with me.”

Immediately after the reply, Anbumani aborted the press meet and walked out.