AIADMK has no history of doing penance for electoral alliance: EPS

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has no history of doing penance for the sake of electoral alliance with other parties, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Saturday.

“Ours [AIADMK] is a powerful party,” Mr. Palaniswami told a news channel after attending an event to mark International Women’s Day, organised at the AIADMK office in Royapettah.

He made the observation in the context of the State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), K. Annamalai’s, statement in Coimbatore on Friday that parties were “doing penance” for striking an electoral deal with his party. 

However, the AIADMK general secretary, in an interaction with journalists earlier, denied the suggestion that Mr. Annamalai’s remark was aimed at the Dravidian major. He also reiterated that he would finalise the issue of alliance only after six months. 

To mark the occasion [International Women’s Day], Mr. Palaniswami distributed sewing machines, utensils for making idli, fish baskets, flasks, and saris to women, and launched a ‘free lunch’ programme for 1,000 persons. The Secretary of the Women’s Wing [AIADMK], B. Valarmathi, and her colleagues presented him a garland. 

Meanwhile, AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran deplored the State government for the rise in cases of violence against women. In a statement, O. Panneerselvam, coordinator of the ADMK Workers’ Rights Retrieval Committee, came down heavily on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for reportedly changing the conduct rules of the State government employees in such a manner that no protest would be allowed on the premises of government offices. As the employees could undertake agitations only on the premises of their respective offices, any restriction would take away their right to protest, Mr. Panneerselvam said, and urged the government to withdraw the amendments.