CHENNAI: With just months to go for assembly polls, dairy development minister
K T Rajenthra Bhalaji
on Tuesday said the ruling AIADMK should contest the polls with
Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief ministerial candidate.
His statement comes in the wake of senior minister Sellur K Raju’s remarks on Monday that the elected members of the party will choose a legislative party leader after the elections and he would be the chief minister. On his official twitter handle, Bhalaji said, “Edappadiyar endrum mudalvar (Edappadi K Palaniswami is chief minister forever).”
When contacted, Bhalaji said EPS had been steering the government excellently. “When other chief ministers are confined to homes, our chief minister visits districts and reviews the Covid work. He is seeking to ensure the safety of people and what more can one ask for,” the minister told TOI. He said there was no “hidden agenda” in tweeting at this juncture, except choosing Krishna Jayanthi, the auspicious day, to express his opinion.
The minister said it would be appropriate for the party to project a CM candidate akin to the BJP that projected Narendra Modi ahead of elections. “If you have to elect the CM after the elections, it will only give ample space for horse-trading,” Bhalaji said, adding that he has received “good response” from partymen to his remarks.
Bhalaji’s controversial statements in the past had brought discomfiture to the ruling AIADMK, with the main opposition DMK appealing to the government to drop him from the cabinet for his “unconstitutional, scandalous and divisive” speeches.
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