EPS rules out coalition government with BJP; says ‘Ungaludan Stalin' is a political gimmick
AIADMK
general secretary
Edappadi K Palaniswami
on Monday reiterated that AIADMK would form the government on its own after winning the 2026 assembly election.
The opposition leader has ruled out a coalition government in Tamil Nadu yet again, two days after Union minister Amit Shah said in a media interview that BJP would be part of the govt in the state after 2026.
'Our alliance would achieve a grand success in 2026. AIADMK will be victorious and will form a govt on its own,' said EPS.
Speaking to reporters in Salem, EPS, however, said the AIADMK alliance was intact and strong, and that it is the DMK alliance which has multiple issues and rifts between the allies. 'Instead of forecasting the future of our alliance, Udhayanidhi should be focussing on safeguarding DMK alliance from a split,' EPS said.
He was responding to remarks by deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. With eight months remaining until election, EPS said more parties will join the AIADMK alliance.
He then hit out chief minister M K Stalin for deputing senior IAS officers for 'Ungaludan Stalin' programme. EPS alleged that the government was using the program as a ploy to gather the phone numbers of public which will be used by DMK during the election to reach out to voters.
He said govt officials have been told to collect phone numbers of the public. 'Afterward, they will use it to reach out to voters through the DMK IT wing and recruit them as party members,' he charged.
He also alleged that Ungaludan Stalin program was a political gimmick. 'If the program was for the benefit of people, what was the govt doing for the past four and half years? Does it mean they did not work for the benefit of people,' he asked.
He then alleged that Yadavamoorthy, the opposition leader of Salem Municipal Corporation, was roughed up by DMK councillors for exposing deficiencies in the civic body. Instead of taking action against the attackers, the victim has been booked by the police, EPS alleged. 'This is Stalin's model of govt,' he said.
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