Ex-min: None can rob legacy of AIADMK and Two-Leaves

CHENNAI: Without Dravidian political movements, which impacted the lives of the people in every aspect, the history of the State remains incomplete, said Deputy Leader of Opposition R B Udhayakumar.In an interview to Shanmugha Sundaram J, former AIADMK minister exuded confidence in winning the election and declared that anyone opposing the party’s power would be eliminated from the State’s political scene

The AIADMK entered the election campaign with the “Naalai Namathe Narpathum Namathe” slogan. You have campaigned extensively and gauge the mood of the people. What is your prediction? Whether AIADMK will achieve its goal of 40/40?

•Our confidence level has increased immensely since our party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami), and candidates kick-started their campaigns. We have reached out to the people by listing out our government’s achievements. Moreover, we are confident to reap the benefit of the anti-incumbency against the DMK, which is palpable, to achieve our target of 40/40.

Will the AIADMK extend support to BJP to form government, if it achieves 40/40 seats in the LS polls?

•No. Definitely not. Our leaders will think a hundred times before making a decision. Once the decision is arrived, we will stick to it firmly. There is no going back to our stand. We will neither extend support after the LS polls nor form alliance with the BJP for the 2026 polls.

Leaders of your former alliance parties - the PMK and the BJP - declaring that the Dravidian politics would cease to exist in TN after the LS polls. What is your response?

•The Dravidian Movements (AIADMK and DMK) have established themselves with dedicated and committed vote banks. No one can write Tamil Nadu history without attributing the Dravidian parties’ contributions in various fronts. Moreover, they aligned with the Dravidian parties and benefitted electorally in the past. They conveniently forgot that and made such remarks to cover up their inabilities. As far as the AIADMK is concerned, it ruled the state for 32 years out of 52 years of its existence. It implemented a number of welfare schemes for the people. None has such powerful magic to wipe out the AIADMK that has over 2 crore cadre in a single day.

There is a perception that the AIADMK is losing its importance in Thevar belt, which is the party’s stronghold. Is it so?

•As per the AIADMK’s history, the legacy of the party and its symbol “Two-Leaves” stands tall among the people. Those who identify themselves with the party and gain popularity cannot survive without that. If they try to project themselves above the party, they will bite the dust. Be it Navalar (Nedunchezhian), SDS (S D Somasundaram), and Thirunavukarasu or O Panneerselvam, who joined the list. After their exit from the party, they became politically invalid and irrelevant (Sella Kasu). This shows that the people of TN never give importance to an individual’s popularity and always give importance to a party and its symbol. They welcome you when you are in line with the party. So many candidates from Sellur Raju in Madurai, Raja Chellappa, Dindigul Srinivasan, Natham Viswanathan, Vijayabaskar and Kamaraj won the assembly polls from the Southern districts. Who are we?

But you have faced the polls when OPS and EPS were together in the party?

•We have lost when we were together, too. Why did he lose in Andipatti and Periyakulam assembly seats in his (OPS) native district when he was holding one of the top two positions in the party. He lost six out of seven constituencies in Virudhunagar, lost 5 out of 10 seats in Madurai in the region when he was with the AIADMK. What about the influence among the (Thevar) community then?

Estranged AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam and AMMO leader T T V Dhinakaran have teamed up to defeat the AIADMK candidates in Central and Southern districts to prove that EPS is not a force to reckon with in Thevar belt?

•Dhinakaran lost all the seats in the Parliament polls in 2019. He contested in the Cooker symbol in Kovilpatti (in 2021 assembly polls) and tasted defeat. Same will repeat for him and OPS in this election, too.

What is your response to BJP TN chief Annamalai’s remark that the AIADMK will return to T T V Dhinakaran after the LS polls?

•I think he has been venting out his anger as we rejected him and his party alliance for the LS polls.I have doubts whether he is the state president of BJP or a cadre of the AIADMK. Only the AIADMK cadre has the right to question our party affairs. If he becomes the AIADMK cadre, his remarks can be taken into consideration.

Are you saying there is a possibility that Annamalai will join the AIADMK after the polls?

•No, I am saying that his remarks are baseless. Moreover, he has no moral rights, credibility or authority to speak about our party. It shows his arrogance. Since he is holding a posting in the state unit of the national party, which rules the country, he speaks in such a manner. Once he is shown the door by his party leadership, he will understand what reality means.

Will Modi’s frequent visit to TN benefit the NDA here?

•He is the Prime Minister candidate for his alliance. He has all rights to visit the state a number of times for election campaigns. But the people of Tamil Nadu wonder why he never visited the state during difficult times like recent floods and cyclones?

When his government releases financial aid to BJP ruling states immediately, why is it not showing similar compassion towards TN and its people? Despite the TN government submitting a memorandum, seeking Rs 37,000 crore for flood relief works, the Centre did not release a single rupee till date. This gives an impression that the BJP government at the centre is unwilling to extend help to the State. It gives a perception among the people that the PM is visiting the State frequently for their votes, but not to help them during difficult times. They will give their judgment in the election.

The PM is repeatedly praising late AIADMK leaders MGR and Jayalalithaa during his election campaigns. Is he eyeing the AIADMK vote bank?

•Our leaders lived for the welfare of the people. They sacrificed a lot for the people of the State. So, it's not surprising to see leaders from other parties hailing their contribution to the people. It doesn't mean that they will take away the AIADMK’s vote bank.

How do you see the BJP’s attempt to rake up Katchatheevu issue ahead of the LS polls?

•Being in power for 10 years, the BJP government did nothing to retrieve the islet through diplomatic measures. Now, they are taking up the issue and it's understandable what they are up to. Meanwhile, I want to tell the efforts of our leader (J Jayalalithaa), being in power and in the opposition, took measures to retrieve the islet. She filed a case in the Supreme Court when she was the opposition leader and continued the efforts after returning to power.

Several AIADMK leaders openly said that the party lost the minorities support for having electoral ties with the BJP. How is it acceptable among the minorities for the AIADMK?

•They have never been angry with us. Their anger was against our alliance. Now, things have changed and the party earned the trust of the minorities. So, we are confident of securing 100% of the minority votes in the polls.

How do you see the BJP’s poll promise on implementation of the Union Civil Code?

•It is BJP’s ideological-driven dream. Since they enjoy power and authority now, they are trying to implement it and announcing it as one of their poll promises. But, they need the people’s mandate. The poll results will define what will happen next.