Stalin gives silent treatment to Vijay

Trichy: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday launched a full throttle attack on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami at a rally in Trichy, describing him as a ‘complete Sanghi,' while conspicuously avoiding any reference to TVK president Vijay.Despite Vijay contesting from Trichy East and consistently targeting DMK and Stalin in his speeches, the chief minister refrained from responding during the campaign in Trichy. Stalin chose not to engage with Vijay's rhetoric in Karur as well, where 41 people were killed in a stampede at a TVK rally last year. Instead, Stalin fired salvos on EPS and BJP, and sought to woo minorities, who form a sizable vote base in Trichy. He said EPS defended CAA when BJP brought it, but changed position and called it a ‘historical blunder' when he parted ways with BJP during 2024 Lok Sabha election. "I have a question for him. Dear opposition leader Palanisami, do you support or oppose CAA now? If you have the courage, state it openly," Stalin said. He said AIADMK and its ally PMK betrayed minorities and Sri Lankan Tamils by supporting CAA.Responding to the statement of EPS that even DMK had aligned with BJP in the past, Stalin said the DMK-BJP pact was an electoral alliance, unlike EPS who has become BJP's ‘stooge' and a total ‘Sanghi'. ``We aligned with Vajpayee with a common minimum programme and brought development projects to TN. But you have mortgaged TN rights,'' he said. He said BJP was ‘avenging' TN because it was unable to win even a single seat in 2024 LS election. They are also unable to digest the fact that TN was free of communal riots and religious violences. Stalin said that if the NDA was voted to power, ‘they would not hesitate even to rename Tamil Nadu as Dakshin Pradesh,' to remove the Tamil identity in the name of the state.Giving a comic touch to the campaign, Stalin recalled a dialogue by Rajnikanth in Padayappa movie ‘Mappillai avar than aana avar pottrukka sattai enodathu' (He is the groom, but the shirt he is wearing is mine)," to drive home the point that AIADMK was subservient to BJP.Earlier in the day, Stalin, along with candidates K N Nehru (Trichy West), Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (Thiruverumbur), and Inigo Irudayaraj (Trichy East) walked through a busy stretch in Gandhi Market area and interacted with the public. He also had tea at a roadside stall in Trichy East segment where Vijay is contesting.