Thiruchuli (Tamil Nadu), April 10 DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday criticised AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for his personal attacks against her, asserting that she had been legally acquitted by the courts and remains "innocent".
Addressing an election rally here, the DMK leader responded to Palaniswami's recent claims that she would soon be returning to prison. He was apparently referring to the appeal in the alleged 2G scam case, in which the trial court had acquitted Kanimozhi.
The DMK MP termed his comments as "unsubtle" and suggested they were a desperate reaction to her critiques of his political conduct.
"Just because I am criticising his political activities, yesterday he made some unsubtle comments and stated I would go to prison again. I want to tell Edappadi Palaniswami only one thing: the case filed against me was fake. I fought it, and I was legally acquitted by the courts," Kanimozhi told the gathering.
Emphasising her legal standing, the DMK leader stated that she was released without any guilt and that no cases are currently pending against her.
"There’s no pending case; it’s only an appeal, and that is different," she clarified.
In a sharp counter-offensive, Kanimozhi reminded the AIADMK leader of his own party's legal history. "I hope he remembers who was the one who was convicted in a case and who went to prison as a convict. In fact, he has cases upon him, too," she said.
The DMK leader further noted that while she possesses the grounds to file cases against those who "intentionally" sought her imprisonment in the past, she remains focused on her current political mandate.
The exchange marks a significant escalation in the war of words between the ruling DMK and the primary opposition AIADMK as campaign heat intensifies across the state, ahead of polling on April 23.