AIADMK hits back at Stalin, OPS for their remarks on EPS

Chennai: The AIADMK on Sunday hit back at chief minister M K Stalin for alleging that BJP would remove AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami from his post after the assembly elections. AIADMK deputy general secretary K P Munusamy said Stalin was making such remarks out of "fear of losing the election". "Stalin need not worry about the AIADMK. EPS will continue to serve as the party's general secretary," he said. Terming the allegations that the BJP will replace the AIADMK general secretary with someone else after the polls as baseless, Munusamy said Stalin was trying to mislead the public as EPS's support among voters was rising. Referring to Stalin's remarks that BJP would ‘swallow' AIADMK, Munusamy said the party founded by M G Ramachandran to oppose the DMK cannot be swallowed by anyone. "The AIADMK was created to oppose the politics of Karunanidhi. The movement cannot be destroyed by anyone," he said. He said MGR and former CM J Jayalalithaa consistently opposed the DMK, and that EPS was continuing on the same political line. Former minister R B Udhayakumar also criticised O Panneerselvam for remarks comparing Stalin with former CM C N Annadurai. He said OPS had "no moral right" to speak about AIADMK. Referring to the public meeting organised by OPS in Madurai, Udhayakumar alleged that OPS who "earned money using Amma's name was now spending it to support those who wanted to destroy her and the AIADMK." He said the AIADMK, founded by MGR, survived "conspiracies, betrayals and challenges" for more than five decades and would continue to do so. Udhayakumar said the party was being led by EPS and would return to power under his leadership. "Betrayal has never won," he said.