CHENNAI: Recovering from the “shock” of the party’s defeat in the RK Nagar byelections, the results of which were announced on Sunday, the ruling AIADMK accused the opposition DMK and TTV Dhinakaran of “jointly conspiring” its defeat at the polls.
“The result of the RK Nagar bypoll is an outcome of the secret understanding between DMK working president M. K. Stalin and Dhinakaran. It showed how Stalin and Dhinakaran planned to defame party founder, the late M. G. Ramachandran and late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa by joining hands to defeat Two Leaves — the AIADMK’s symbol,” party coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami said in a joint statement on Sunday night. They alleged that Stalin and Dhinakaran had "jointly conspired and deceived the people.”
In a joint statement Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami said DMK faced its “worst defeat” in an election to any Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu so far.
"People are amazed at how the DMK is pushed to a situation where it could not even get the primary votes it has in R. K. Nagar. At the same time, they are questioning how DMK can enter into a conspiracy with Dhinakaran to defame Amma”, they said and added Stalin had entered into such a “secret understanding” unmindful of his party’s performance as his sole objective was to target the AIADMK government.
They also accused Dhinakaran of “betraying” Jayalalithaa even after her death by allegedly joining hands with DMK and cited Dhinakaran’s response to the acquittal of DMK leaders Kanimozhi and A. Raja, in the 2G Spectrum case on December 21 that he was happy for them as they hailed from Tamil Nadu. “The election outcome shows he (Dhinakaran) received DMK votes as a reward for this. Realising he cannot take on AIADMK and Two Leaves directly, Stalin has diverted his party votes to Dhinakaran”, they charged and accused the DMK leader of “betraying” his party.
The two AIADMK leaders also alleged distribution of money by Dhinakaran and said Dhinakaran’s victory cannot be accepted as the “thought process” of the people of entire Tamil Nadu. The win achieved by “conspiracy” by Stalin and Dhinakaran will not affect AIADMK nor was it a setback, they added.
They vowed to take forward the “Amma rule” and deliver welfare and commit to upholding Jayalalithaa’s fame. The AIADMK is also likely to brainstorm on today's defeat at a meeting here tomorrow.
