Udhayanidhi Stalin
Campaigning for DMK candidate S Suganya in Dharapuram assembly constituency where a byelection will be held on Oct 6, Udhayanidhi accused former allies of betraying DMK.
TIRUPUR: Leader of the opposition and DMK youth wing president Udhayanidhi Stalin on Saturday alleged that chief minister C Joseph Vijay had lured seven AIADMK MLAs with suitcases of cash and “bought MLAs wholesale” to split the party and form the govt. He said some parties that had earlier been part of the DMK-led alliance extended support to TVK govt, citing fears of “governor’s rule”. “We won’t forget those who went without informing Stalin and those who stabbed us in the back,” he said. “In Dharapuram, the person you elected earlier has stabbed you in the back,” Udhayanidhi said, referring to V Sathyabama who is the TVK candidate in the constituency.
Urging voters not to repeat their past mistakes, he warned that if the TVK candidate won, Sathyabama would only “praise the CM, sing songs and post reels”. He alleged that if the AIADMK won, its representatives could “take a suitcase and switch parties again”. He appealed to voters to support Suganya, whose name, he said, would appear in the “third” position on the ballot. He said such offences affected women and girls across age groups, “from grandmothers to infants”. Udhayanidhi likened the assembly to a “shooting spot” filled with “punch dialogues,” adding that only “dance and fight” were missing. He claimed that the chief minister had sounded like a “broken tape recording,” repeating the same statements for two years. He said they functioned “like Bigg Boss for 40 days”. He alleged that ministers had frequently broken into songs in the House and asked whether the assembly had become a “Super Singer” show.
Raising concerns over law and order and women’s safety, Udhayanidhi alleged that murders and incidents of sexual violence had become frequent.