By not keeping his word, Edappadi Palaniswami has lost credibility, says O. Panneerselvam

The people would not be carried away by the election manifesto of the AIADMK, as its general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has lost credibility by not keeping his word, DMK leader O. Panneerselvam said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media, Mr. Panneerselvam said that 10 consecutive elections since the R.K. Nagar byelection in 2017 had proved that Mr. Palaniswami lacked personality and efficiency.

“Tall leaders such as M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa too had faced defeats in elections. However, they had a great personality, which ensured that they made a quick comeback,” he said.

He ridiculed Mr. Palaniswami for claiming that he was leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu. “If that were the case, the smaller parties should contest the election on the AIADMK’s symbol and not the BJP’s,” he said. He claimed that AIADMK members had switched to the DMK en masse.

“The people would not believe the AIADMK’s promises of ₹2,000 in monthly assistance to women and refrigerators to all ration cardholders. The DMK has fulfilled all of its poll promises, and has even implemented schemes that were not promised during the last election campaign,” he said.

“When the DMK manifesto is announced, all political parties will run away (from the electoral arena),” he said.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was working to spread industrialisation across the southern districts to generate job opportunities, he added.