Tamil Nadu Assembly election: Edappadi K. Palaniswami promises probe into red sand quarry case against Ponmudy

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday said that the investigation in the red sand quarrying case in which former Minister K. Ponmudy was acquitted would be taken up after the AIADMK comes to power.

Addressing an election meeting in Villupuram, he accused the DMK of being the “fountainhead of corruption” and said Mr. Ponmudy was acquitted due to false testimony by officials. This case will be reopened after the AIADMK comes to power and action will be taken against all officials who gave false evidence. This will be the last election for the DMK, he said.

Mr. Palaniswami described the AIADMK alliance as strong while labelling the DMK front as a “slave alliance”. He wanted to know whether parties, such as the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Congress and the Left parties shared the same ideology.

The Chief Minister is misleading the people. Parties in the AIADMK alliance are contesting uniformly in neighbouring Puducherry too, unlike the DMK’s ideologically “mismatched” partners. The DMK gave CPI fewer seats than in 2021 and denied the demands of the VCK.

In a veiled reference to the DMDK, he said that the AIADMK revived a party that was on ventilator support. But they joined the DMK alliance. Mr. Palaniswami also promised to revive the desalination project for Villupuram district that was halted by the ruling DMK.