Chennai, March 6 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has said that his gesture, indicating that the much-anticipated seat-sharing deal with ally Congress "is finished," has gone viral, drawing criticism from the AIADMK, which said that everything under the DMK rule has "come to an end."
Stalin, while attending a wedding in the family of Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Thursday, said, "after finalizing an agreement with an alliance party (Congress) that would be appreciated by everyone, I left the venue (DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam)."
"You would have seen the visuals of me getting into the car after finalizing the agreement, and the gesture I made by raising my hand, stating 'it's over.' That was not something I had planned. As I was walking to the car, the media personnel standing there kept asking me whether the talks were over. I responded by making that gesture and said, it is finished," the chief minister recalled.
The spontaneous gesture has gone viral on social media, and it is being shared to say, "everything is settled, all is finished," Stalin said.
Responding, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami said, "The chief minister, who is supposed to protect law and order, speaks with vain pride that the gesture he showed has become viral."
"Under the DMK rule, everything, including law and order, women's safety, and social justice, has come to an end," the Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition said.
On Wednesday, after lengthy discussions amidst speculation that all was not well between the ruling DMK and its ally Congress, the two parties clinched a seat-sharing deal for the upcoming Assembly elections.
By doing so, the two effectively put to rest speculations that questioned the continuance of their alliance, as a demand for power-sharing by some within the national party threatened to derail the ties. After rounds of negotiations, the DMK allotted 28 assembly seats to Congress and one Rajya Sabha seat for the March 16 biennial election.
Stalin, after taking part in the discussion, while leaving the venue, made a gesture to the media personnel, the video of which was widely shared on social media.