No need to project Prime Minister face to seek votes in LS polls: Palaniswami

Madurai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday said there is no need to project a Prime Minister candidate to seek votes for his party and its allies for the Lok Sabha polls slated to be held in April-May.

In the last Parliamentary polls, "did Naveen Patnaik (Odisha Chief Minister and BJD top leader) project a PM face? No...did Jagan Mohan Reddy came up with a PM face to seek votes? No."

Similarly, in Kerala the Left front did not specify a Prime Minister candidate when they sought votes from people, the AIADMK chief said.

Addressing the 'Vellattum Mathasarbinmai' (Let secularism win) rally of SDPI here, Palaniswami said the only need is 'to do good,' to serve people and protect their interests. In Parliament, the AIADMK will voice its support to protect the interests of the minorities.

The AIADMK had always been a 'fortress' in protecting the interests of minorities.

The leader of opposition said his party stalled Parliament proceedings over the Cauvery issue to protect the interests of Tamil Nadu and its people unlike the ruling DMK which 'enacted dramas.'

The DMK promised to get the NEET cancelled once it captured power. To this date, it has not fulfilled its promise, he said.

Rejecting Stalin's accusation that 'AIADMK is BJP's slave,' Palaniswami said his party is independent and had never allowed any entity to enslave it.

Also, the AIADMK had never enslaved any other party. Any party that joined forces with the AIADMK is poised to grow while those with 'the DMK are set to face setback.'

The AIADMK chief further said the allies of the DMK were servient and could not take up any issue with the Stalin-led party.

"The AIADMK is beyond caste and religion," and even an ordinary worker could go on to adorn top posts.

The AIADMK leader said his party's electoral alliance with the BJP in the past was considering the 'circumstances of that time.'

However, the AIADMK had never compromised on its ideology.

Palaniswami reiterated that AIADMK will have no truck with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly polls as well.

Even after his party severed its links with the BJP, Palaniswami said Stalin had alleged repeatedly that the AIADMK had a secret alliance with the Saffron party.

It was only an outcome of the DMK president's frustration as his party had all along deceived the minorities. When the AIADMK moved out of the BJP camp, Stalin was 'affected by fever' over ways to win minority votes.

Without naming expelled leader O Panneerselvam, Palaniswami said he helmed the state to best serve the people amid several troubles within the party.

The AIADMK, when it held power followed democracy and allowed protest demonstrations to allow people to voice dissent.

However, the DMK is all for scuttling protests against the government and the Stalin-led party tried to prevent SDPI functionaries from attending the public meeting.

The DMK is not worried about the people and the INDIA alliance is merely to seek ministerial berths for family members, he alleged.

"What did the DMK do (for the welfare of minorities and people) when they were part of various dispensations at the Centre?" he asked, recalling that the DMK shared power for over a decade at the Centre.

The former Chief Minister, referring to the Global Investors Meet 2024 in Chennai, said the government had already held similar events and dared the government to release a white paper on investments secured and job opportunities created following such past initiatives.

Such exercises were aimed at pulling the wool over people's eyes. 'Hoodwinking people is a craft well known to them (DMK).'

The DMK is a 'chameleon' which always hankered for power and the state is being 'looted'.

Palaniswami praised the SDPI functionaries for the grand public meeting.

Accusing Stalin of creating a false impression that only the DMK and its allies followed secularism, Palaniswami said it was mere lip service whereas the AIADMK and its partners practised true secularism.

'Secularism is here,' he said, showing the dais in which spiritual leaders from all religions were present. The AIADMK chief reiterated his party's demand to release Muslim prisoners in jail for decades.

Seeking to turn the tables on Stalin for his oft-repeated accusation that Palaniswami became the Chief Minster in 2017 after he 'crawled' in front of V K Sasikala, Palaniswami said he gradually rose through the ranks through sheer hard work.

However, Stalin, did not know 'what hard work is' and became the CM as he is the son of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.

Stalin also does not care about the people, he alleged.