Chief minister campaigns in support of Madurantakam candidate K Maragatham Kumaravel on Friday at Chengalpet
Madurantakam: Equating DMK with BJP , chief minister C Joseph Vijay charged that DMK president M K Stalin was attempting to bring down his govt through “short cuts” via the bypolls. Launching his bypoll campaign in Madurantakam on Friday, Vijay asked voters to “defeat Stalin’s designs” and extend their support to TVK and strengthen the TVK govt. Framing the upcoming byelections as yet another battle between “thooyasakthi and theeyasakthi” (pure force and evil force), Vijay said DMK, AIADMK and BJP were the same. There is no difference between the two,” he said. Though AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami accused Vijay of “horse-trading”, Vijay refrained from taking his name. He continued to refer to AIADMK and its leaders as “others”. Stating that AIADMK voters were pained to see DMK and AIADMK getting closer, Vijay said he was there to take care of “genuine MGR cadres”, referring to followers of the late CM M G Ramachandran. DMK’s attempt to dismantle the TVK govt would not succeed, he said, adding: “The calculations of DMK to dissolve this govt will not happen. “Don’t touch this Vijay, or you will regret it,” he said. I cannot tolerate it or spare them,” he said, warning that action would be taken against them. Defending TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel’s decision to resign as AIADMK MLA and join TVK, Vijay said she could not accept “others” (AIADMK) or join hands with DMK against people’s mandate after assembly elections. “For Vijay, too, the same DMK is the ultimate political enemy,” he declared.
“BJP is Delhi’s DMK and DMK is Tamil Nadu’s BJP. The ties between the people of TN and me are based on love. From children to elderly people, members of every family in the state are my relatives and family members. He cautioned his opponents against targeting him, saying they would regret it for the rest of their lives. He accused the opposition of resorting to abusive language out of desperation. “They spoke ill about my mother. I tolerated it. They are speaking abusively against TN women and Stalin and his family are liking it. Scores of other AIADMK cadres were in pain too, he claimed, adding that the late AIADMK leaders M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa had identified DMK as their primary political opponent.