Tamil Nadu elections: EPS backs ECI transfer, says DMK banks on ‘bureaucrats, not people’

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday supported the decision of Election Commission of India to transfer state chief secretary N Muruganandam. Hitting out at chief minister M K Stalin for criticising the transfer, EPS alleged that DMK depended more on the bureaucrats for its victory than on people’s support. He also attacked DMK MP Kanimozhi, saying that the 2G spectrum case was still pending and that she could end up in jail.

Palaniswami said ECI’s move to transfer senior bureaucrats was based on the complaints raised by opposition parties and the public.




“We are not concerned about who is posted where. Ultimately, it is people who are going to vote,” Palaniswami told reporters before kickstarting his campaign at Chepauk-Triplicane constituency, where deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin is contesting.

Continuing his attack on Stalin’s family, Palaniswami hit back at Kanimozhi for her remark that BJP would make him a governor after the elections. “She has been taught to speak like this,” he said.

Palaniswami said she should not forget that the 2G spectrum case was still pending before the court and that she might “end up in Tihar jail once again”.

Taking a dig at Udhayanidhi for displaying a picture of him falling at the feet of V K Sasikala, Palaniswami said seeking the blessings of elders was not wrong. “What is wrong in seeking an elder’s blessings,” he asked.

On his remark that Stalin “would have gone due to Corona”, Palaniswami denied any malicious intent. “I did not mean any harm,” he said.

However, he added that it was his opponents who decide the weapons he would use. “If the chief minister and deputy chief minister continue to make derogatory remarks against me, I will retaliate,” said Palaniswami.
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