Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 20 : Tamil Nadu Minister KN Nehru on Friday criticised AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, questioning his leadership in the National Democratic Alliance and his dependence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah for seat-sharing discussions.
As per a statement by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), while referring to the AIADMK's alliance with the NDA, which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party and PMK, Nehru argued that if AIADMK were truly leading the alliance in Tamil Nadu, negotiations should be held at the party's headquarters in Chennai or at Palaniswami's residence. Instead, he pointed out, they are taking place in New Delhi at Amit Shah's residence.
"If AIADMK is the leader of the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu, then seat-sharing talks should happen at its headquarters, MGR Maaligai. But Palaniswami is holding talks at Amit Shah's residence. Not even once have seat-sharing talks been held at the office of the party that is supposed to lead the alliance. Not even at Palaniswami's Chennai residence. Couldn't they at least hold talks at the Royapettah office built by MGR? Does AIADMK not even have that strength? You might as well lock the party headquarters on Avvai Shanmugam Salai until the election is over," said Nehru.
Nehru asserted that traditionally, under leaders like MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, the leading party in the alliance would allocate seats to its partners. However, Nehru claimed that Palaniswami is now seeking more seats for his party while relying on discussions hosted by another party's leadership.
"The party leading the alliance should allocate seats to BJP, PMK, AMMK and others. That has been the tradition under MGR and Jayalalithaa. But now, Palaniswami is waiting at another party leader's house asking for more seats for his own party. That shows how things have changed," said Palaniswami.
Nehru also highlighted that Palaniswami has made multiple visits to Delhi for alliance talks, calling it unprecedented for a party that has historically ruled Tamil Nadu several times. He said this situation has led to frustration among AIADMK workers, who feel the party's position has weakened.
"Palaniswami has gone to Delhi five times to meet Amit Shah regarding the alliance, and four more times after it was finalised. AIADMK boasts about ruling Tamil Nadu the most number of times, yet its General Secretary travelling repeatedly to Delhi for alliance talks is unprecedented. Even party workers feel frustrated seeing what Palaniswami has reduced AIADMK to," said KN Nehru.
This comes amidst the announcement of election dates in Tamil Nadu, which is set to go into single-phase polls on April 23 while counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
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