Blasts from the past: As Lok Sabha poll campaign heats up in TN, rivals DMK, AIADMK dig up 'dirt'
Archrivals DMK and AIADMK seem to be mining the archives to dig up the past 'misdeeds' to attack each other. These are then used during the campaign trail, one print out at a time
(L to R) Udhayanidhi showing a photo of EPS and PM Modi; Edappadi shows a photo of CM Stalin and Jaffer Sadiq
CHENNAI: As the campaign for Lok Sabha elections is gathering pace, the DMK and AIADMK are attacking one another by seeking to remind the public about the other's 'misdeeds'.
The trend seems to have started when DMK youth wing leader and Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, party chief and Chief Minister MK Stalin's son and arguably the second most popular campaigner for the INDIA bloc allies, waved an A4 size printout of a photograph that had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami sharing a lighter moment on stage.
What prompted this was AIADMK general secretary Edappadi's comment during a speech that Udhayanidhi has come back with the brick trick. (For the unversed, during the Assembly election campaign in 2021, Stalin junior used the brick as a metaphor for the long delay in establishing AIIMS in Madurai).
Responding to the taunt, Udhayanidhi hit back in kind saying how Edappadi was subservient to Modi. To drive home the point, he waved the printout of the photograph. The photo dates back to the time when the BJP and AIADMK were in an alliance, before the saffron party's Tami Nadu unit chief K Annamalai's public statements on corruption by AIADMK ministers and his efforts to portray BJP as the real opposition touched a raw nerve.
It was then Edappadi's turn to wave a printout, this time, it was a photo of DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin with Jaffer Sadiq, the alleged kingpin of an international narcotics cartel that allegedly sent drugs worth a whopping Rs 2,000 crore to Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Sadiq was an office-bearer of the DMK's NRI wing, and the party expelled him after his alleged links to the drugs trade came to light. He is also a film producer.
During his campaign in Sriperumbudur on Friday, Udhayanidhi said Edappadi was outraged by his criticism against Modi, implying Stalin's earlier allegation that the BJP-AIADMK breakup was merely a drama for electoral purposes.
In another instance, this time at Vellore on Wednesday, Udhayanidhi flashed another printout to attack Edappadi. This time, it was a photo of the latter prostrating before VK Sasikala (whose ouster from AIADMK he later engineered) after she named him as the surprise choice for the Chief Minister post. Replying to this, Edappadi sought to brush it aside saying it was common in our culture to respect those older to us.
The campaign season is still in its early days, and we sure are in for more printouts!