Nagapattinam: DMK chief M K Stalin Monday attacked the ruling AIADMK, saying Chief Minister K Palaniswami was leading a government of ‘Corruption, Commission and Collection’ and was scared of facing the public in the local body polls and bypolls.
Speaking at a wedding function at Thirukkadaiyur in the district, he said the government was facing the wrath of the people on all fronts and was scared of facing them.
“Despite the Madras High Court’s directions to hold local body polls in the state, the State Election Commission is delaying the process. When bypoll dates to Thiruvarur and Thirparankundam assembly constituencies were to be announced, the Chief Secretary wrote to the Election Commission of India, requesting for postponement, citing the coming monsoon as the reason.”
All these actions clearly showed that the government was afraid of facing the people through the democratic electoral process, he said. Stalin also referred to corruption charges against the Chief Minister and a couple of ministers.
“They know for sure that they have no chance of getting re-elected” and hence were indulging in corruption, he said. Stating that DMK was ready to face the polls, Stalin said that if elections were held to 20 assembly constituencies (2 vacant seats + 18 disqualified), DMK would emerge victorious in all the seats.
The Madras High Court last week upheld the disqualification of 18 ruling party MLAs, loyal to AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, and cleared the decks for the bypolls in the constituencies.
Besides the 18, the Tiruvarur seat represented by late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and Tiruparankundram by AIADMK’s AK Bose are vacant in view of their recent deaths.
Stalin also accused the state government of remaining subservient to the BJP government at the centre. “When I point out this fact, the Chief Minister is filing defamation suits. They have filed seven such cases against me so far,” he said. Top DMK leaders and former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar were among those who participated in the wedding.