Udhayakumar, spewing venom against the TVK Minister, said that he was desperate to poach from the AIADMK because he had lost faith in his own party members.
Chennai: Leaders and cadre in the AIADMK were all seething in anger over TVK leader and State PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna openly claiming that 90 percent of the functionaries of AIADMK were biding their time to migrate to TVK with headquarter secretary R B Udhayakumar alleging that an elaborate horse trading plan was on by luring his party members and leader with attractive promises on Friday.
While the apparent move by former AIADMK Ministers, C Ve Shanmugham and C Vijayabaskar, who were part of the 25 MLAs who supported the TVK government in the confidence vote, to switch over to the TVK camp continued to hang fire, other leaders came out heavily against the TVK in general and Aadhv Arjuna in particular.
Udhayakumar, spewing venom against the TVK Minister, said that he was desperate to poach from the AIADMK because he had lost faith in his own party members. How could AIADMK members heed to Aadhav Arjuna and make a move towards self-destruction, he wondered.
Recalling Aadhav Aruna’s past political manoeuvers, AIADMK whip Agri Krishnamurthy said he was first with the DMK, then switched over to the VCK and then joined the TVK. Krishnamurthy told the media in Tiruvannamalai that the scion of a lottery empire was keen on promoting lottery sales in the State that had now banned lottery completely.
Other AIADMK leaders were also apprehensive of an exodus from the party as the TVK was reportedly throwing the bait of nominations in the coming local body elections and appointments to the various government welfare boards.
The TVK government has not filled up the vacancies to the welfare boards with his party members and are using them as bait to functionaries from other parties willing to jump ship. Former AIADMK Minister Vellamandi Natarajan had said, on the day of his defection to the TVK, that Vijaybaskar would follow him soon.
But Vijayabaskar and Shanmugham, who refused to pledge their loyalty to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami when the other rebels patched up with the party leadership, have reportedly put their plans on hold waiting for better offers from the TVK, it is learned.
In the backdrop of such a fluid political situation, the maiden official visit of Vijay to New Delhi turning out to be a fiasco with his inability to meet any alliance leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, or Union Home Minister Amit Shah has led to severe criticism in the political circles with questions being raised in social media
