Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday said neither his party nor allies have held talks with the actor-politician Vijay-led fledgling TVK for the April 23 Assembly polls.
Speaking to reporters at an Iftar event held by the party here, Palaniswami, flanked by Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagenthran and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran, when asked if he wished TVK to be part of the AIADMK-led NDA, said: “I have said this before. So far, AIADMK and leaders of its alliance parties have not held talks with the party that you have mentioned (in order to form an alliance for the Assembly polls).”
Palaniswami’s comment on Sunday is the third such assertion that he had on March 14 and 11 ruled out scope for alliance with TVK and had dismissed scope for alliance as mere media speculation.
The AIADMK chief, taking part in a Question and Answer session in an event held by a media outlet on March 14 ruled out any rift with BJP leader K Annamalai and blamed the media for creating an impression of trouble between the two.
He underscored that the former TN BJP chief was set to preside, alongside AIADMK leader SP Velumani, a demonstration to be staged in Coimbatore on March 17. The leader of opposition appealed to the media not to cause trouble by claiming a rift between him and Annamalai.
Asked if the TVK would join the NDA or not, Palaniswami said in that event: “I have already made it clear. So far, we have not held talks with them (TVK). When that is the case, how can an alliance be formed? It is the media that is magnifying and making an unnecessary claim that there will be an alliance (TVK will be in NDA alliance). AIADMK does not have any contact with that party and we have not held any parleys (for forming alliance).”
The AIADMK leads the NDA in Tamil Nadu.
The AIADMK chief said he has a good rapport with AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran and both of them would work hard for victory in the polls. Minor differences were natural and these have now been resolved, he added.
The Rs 5,000 payout by the state government to beneficiaries was merely eyeing polls and out of DMK’s fear of defeat.
Dhinakaran was among the leaders who had been expelled from the AIADMK years ago.
Speaking to reporters in Tiruchirappalli on March 11, Palaniswami had said that if at all there had been some development about forming an alliance with TVK, such an information should be shared only by the parties.
“However, if you imagine and say that there is going to be an alliance (between TVK and AIADMK-NDA) what can we do? I am making it clear that there is nothing like that; no talks have been held for forging an alliance. We have not held talks with TVK at all…It is the media people who are claiming that the TVK will be in the alliance (AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu).”
