In connection with the Madhuranthakam by-election, DMK leader M.K. Stalin campaigned today (Oct. 3) in support of DMK candidate Paranthaman.
Speaking at the campaign public meeting stage, he criticized the things done by TVK to capture power.
He said,
”This election is not an ordinary election. It is not an election being held due to unavoidable reasons. It is an election that should have been avoided. An election imposed on you.
Four months ago, all of you made one person win. To prop up this government, which does not have a majority, they resigned and then came back and shamelessly ask for votes under another symbol. On top of that, the minister says, while keeping the same candidate, that they have done nothing for five years. After saying that, he asks for votes for that very person.
Can the people of Madurantakam be insulted any further than this? This election is being held because of blatant horse-trading. If we say this, do you know what the Chief Minister says? He says they joined the TVK only after resigning from their MLA posts.
If they had not resigned, the anti-defection law would have kicked in. That is why they resigned to the Speaker, citing a false reason.
You could have said that too, CM sir. The people should teach a fitting lesson to the Chief Minister who deceives them and to the ruling party candidates who deceive you.
I keep looking at social media and the news every day. At that time, reports kept coming in that there was opposition to the TVK candidate, that he was being driven away, and that he could not even enter the constituency because of the ruling party candidate.
You have shown that the people of Madurantakam are clear-minded, honorable, self-respecting, and proud. I offer you my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude with great humility.
Do you know how arrogantly the ruling party people speak? They say that even if a dog were made to stand on behalf of TVK, people would vote for it. It is disgusting to even see all this in Tamil Nadu. They think lightly of the people. You are the ones who must curb the arrogance of such people.
The only mistake we made was one thing. Before the election, we did not even consider TVK to be worth taking seriously. We fought ideological opponents. We ignored this clownish crowd. On top of that, in the SIR, the votes of several lakh people were taken away.
In this way, it was only because of a few opportunities that we lost our chances of victory. But the reality, the truth, is that the party that formed the government did not get a majority either.
If a wave had swung in favor of TVK, they would have won at least 150 seats. But they did not even get the 118 seats they needed. This government was formed only with the support of the parties that contested against and defeated the DMK.
However much the Chief Minister shouts at the top of his voice, this government is running only because of the votes the people gave to the DMK. The Chief Minister must acknowledge that.
He has that same insecurity too. That is why, instead of trusting the parties that supported him, they are trying to buy AIADMK members and field them again in the election, in an attempt to increase TVK’s seats.
There has been a lot of horse-trading in this. Just a few days ago, even a minister shamelessly spoke on stage, saying that if the two MLAs who won on the Rising Sun symbol resign and come over, they can become ministers.
But, like a great saint, when the Chief Minister speaks on stage, he says there is no horse-trading or donkey-trading. Let him choose whatever name suits him best. What we ask is that a party holding a weak government should do as much good for the people as possible and retain power. That is what I expected. We all expected that.
But it didn’t even last a month. MLAs are being bought. Law and order has started to collapse in broad daylight; every day there are knife attacks and machete assaults in groups. They have been unable to control the movement of narcotics. On top of that, they don’t even have the guts to protect whistleblowers. Sexual violence is happening routinely.
Half of the crimes taking place in Tamil Nadu involve TVK members. Instead of taking action against those who commit wrongdoing, they expel the complainants from the party and provide police protection to the MLA accused of the allegations.
Is this a government of pure power? No. It is a force of sorrow. There is an even bigger list. Have they been able to solve the power outage problem? A government is in power that cannot even properly supply Aavin milk for infants to drink. Prices have skyrocketed wildly,” he said.