Seeking blessings of elders not offence, EPS replies to bowing before Sasi pic

TIRUCHY: Seeking blessings from a senior person is not an offence and thus, I sought the blessings of VK Sasikala prior to taking oath as the Chief Minister, said AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami in Madurai on Friday.

“Did I prostrate before a third person. Was it an offence to seek the blessings of seniors,” asked Edappadi K Palaniswami to reporters when they sought his reply to the charges of Udayanidhi Stalin’s that the AIADMK leader ‘crawled’ before Sasikala before taking charge as the Chief Minister.

To a question on the prospects of his party in the LS poll, EPS said that AIADMK wave was visible across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and his alliance candidates will win all the 40 seats, including the Vilavancode assembly constituency, in Tamil Nadu.

“We have been telling people about our achievements while in power and what we are planning to do and the electorate are patiently listening to us. This itself is a testimony to the mindset of the people who have already decided to vote in favour of us”, he claimed.

In a response to the Chief Minister MK Stalin’s attack of ‘Kalla Koottani’, the Leader of Opposition said that no other political party had made such a cheap comment. “We form alliances with a certain party in an election and walk out of it when differences crop up on several issues. Though we have abandoned the BJP, both the Chief Minister and his son, Udayanidhi Stalin, have been making slanderous statements against us. This itself shows that fear of defeat has gripped them,” he said.

Claiming that the AIADMK always follows ‘Koottani Dharma’ and the party always treats alliance partners with due respect, unlike the DMK, Palaniswami said, “the DMK allotted a seat to one of their alliance parties and also made the alliance party candidate cry and this is DMK”, EPS said.

Later, while addressing an election rally, the AIADMK leader said that Chief Minister Stalin himself told the party general body meeting that he used to get up from bed in the morning with a worry about the party functionaries’ atrocities. “This is a confession given by the Chief Minister himself which speaks volumes about the law and order situation which had worsened by the acts and words of party functionaries”, he said and added that this is the real face of the DMK.