AIADMK neither slave nor master ofany other party, says Sellur Raju

MADURAI: AIADMK former MLA Sellur K Raju (Madurai West) exuded confidence that his party led by interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami could achieve victory in the ensuing bypoll to Erode East constituency.

People in Erode, which assumes greater significance since EV Ramasamy, who’s revered as Thanthai Periyar, a social activist, was the son of Erode, are so clever and choose the right party to win.

With the bypoll in Erode scheduled on February 27, his party’s momentum has accelerated to a high speed since the first month of 2023 towards victory, he added.

Responding to queries, Raju said there’s no confusion in the AIADMK to field a candidate to contest the bypoll and ruled out any delay over it. He then added that every cadre is still looking forward to the Election Commission to quickly restore the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.

On whether the ruling DMK would take advantage of the prevailing scenario in the AIADMK, which has become fragmented, in the bypoll, Raju replied that it’s speculated by the media only, but people are ultimately the masters, who would give the AIADMK a clear mandate since the previous regime led by the EPS served good governance. The people are with the EPS-led AIADMK.

Former minister Raju also replied that there’s no need for the AIADMK to compel any party to forge alliance before contesting the bypoll and won’t surrender its principles. Our path is clear and said the AIADMK is neither slave nor master to anybody.

Further, he added that the state government is inefficient and ineffective during its ongoing 20-month regime as people were overburdened with rise in price of commodities, hike in house and property taxes and promises made by the ruling party were not delivered.

EVKS Elangovan, the Congress candidate fielded to take on the opposition in the bypoll, is not a strong contender as far as the AIADMK is concerned, he said.

Recalling Elangovan’s statement, Raju doubted whether the former relied much on money power and the ruling party as deciding factors in helping his party win the bypoll.