Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday targeted the allies of DMK, accusing them of remaining mute spectators to crimes against women, murders and robberies. He also hit out at TVK president Vijay for not visiting Karur to meet families of the stampede victims.Addressing the public at an election rally at Alandur in Chennai, EPS alleged that VCK and Left parties have “maintained silence” on issues faced by the public for the sake of remaining in the DMK alliance. Without naming DMDK, EPS said there was anguish among DMK allies as a new entrant was given more seats reducing the share of long-time partners. Countering Stalin’s criticism that he earned a “dubious record of 10 defeats”, EPS said DMK had suffered multiple defeats and was out of power from 2011 to 2021. “It had even lost the status of opposition party in 2011,” he said. EPS said despite the demise of party supremo J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK withstood challenges and remained in power until 2021 under his leadership.He also accused the DMK govt of allowing prices of essential commodities to rise manifold and claimed that people were waiting to bring the AIADMK back to power. Addressing a gathering in Tambaram constituency, the AIADMK leader mocked the “ideological unity” of the DMK front in Puducherry in the backdrop of rebel candidates taking on candidates of alliance partners. He also slammed Vijay over the Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives. EPS charged that instead of visiting the victims’ families to offer condolences, Vijay had brought them to Chennai to meet him. “What kind of approach is this? Is this a cinema script,” he asked, urging people, particularly the youth, not to fall for cinema popularity. He added that reel life was different from the real world.
