Chennai, April 9 Firing a fresh salvo at AIADMK supremo Edappadi K Palaniswami for his recent remarks against Chief Minister M K Stalin, senior DMK leader R S Bharathi on Thursday alleged that the opposition leader's "indecent" rhetoric was born out of frustration over the growing public support for the ruling party.
Palaniswami, addressing a poll rally in Chennai on April 8, had asked: "During the DMK regime, was there drought, flood or cyclone? or did the coronavirus pandemic break out? There was nothing; had this (pandemic) emerged, he would have gone (died) in the pandemic."
When DMK assumed office in May 2021, the state was in the grip of the second wave of the pandemic, while it first surfaced during the AIADMK regime.
Addressing a press conference here, Bharathi strongly condemned Palaniswami for his comments regarding the Chief Minister and pointed to his visit to COVID-19 wards during the peak of the pandemic.
Bharathi said while Palaniswami was "hiding" during the pandemic, Stalin risked his life by visiting hospital wards in Coimbatore to instill confidence among the people.
"It is well known that during the corona period, while people like Edappadi were afraid to come out, our leader, after taking charge as Chief Minister, entered the wards of Coimbatore hospital even when doctors and others tried to stop him.
He personally met corona patients and saw their treatment, the result of which was that the peak of corona in Tamil Nadu decreased and people began to live in peace,” Bharathi added.
He noted that even the CM’s family, including Udayanidhi Stalin, had expressed deep concern for his safety at that time.
Responding to Palaniswami’s claims about the DMK’s treatment of late leaders K Kamaraj and V N Janaki, Bharathi accused the AIADMK chief of "distorting history".
He pointed out that it was the DMK that installed the statue of Kamaraj on Anna Salai and protected him when his house was set on fire in Delhi by right-wing extremists.
He further stated that former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had ensured a state funeral for Kamaraj at Gandhi Mandapam when many Congress leaders were divided on the location.
The DMK leader also took a swipe at Palaniswami regarding the AIADMK headquarters, stating that the land was donated by V N Janaki.
He questioned why Palaniswami, despite being Chief Minister for four years, "failed" to even install a statue for her or maintain the Ramapuram Gardens where she lived.
Bharathi alleged that the AIADMK leader has no moral right to speak about Janaki while neglecting her memorial and the house where MGR lived.
Turning the heat on Palaniswami over criminal allegations, Bharathi reminded the public of a 1979 murder case in which the AIADMK leader was reportedly involved, claiming he escaped life imprisonment only because the AIADMK was in power then.
He further alleged that the recent death penalty awarded in the Sathankulam custodial death case was a testament to the failures of the previous AIADMK regime, which he claimed tried to hush up the matter.
He also warned that similar justice would prevail in the Coimbatore heist-cum-murder case, which occurred during Palaniswami’s tenure.
The DMK leader asserted that Palaniswami was "hallucinating" and speaking out of fear of a massive defeat in the upcoming elections.
He claimed that internal intelligence reports have indicated a sweep for the DMK-led alliance in over 200 seats, which has led to Palaniswami’s desperate and "uncivilised" campaign style.