National

TVK fielding ‘poached’ AIADMK MLA disgraceful: Palaniswami

newsnow9September 24, 202602 mins

Madurantakam (Tamil Nadu): AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday accused the TVK of indulging in “horse-trading” by poaching an AIADMK legislator to sustain its political standing, stating that no political party in India has engaged in such “disgraceful conduct.”

Addressing an election rally in Madurantakam to campaign for AIADMK candidate Kanitha Sampath, Palaniswami alleged that the TVK, desperate to shore up its numbers to secure governance, engineered the defection using lures.

The bypoll in Maduranthakam will be held on October 6.

The political friction escalated in the wake of the upcoming October 6 by-elections in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies.

Two former AIADMK MLAs, Maragatham and P Sathybama, resigned from their assembly seats and officially switched their allegiance to join the TVK.

Following their defections, the ruling TVK immediately fielded these same two turncoat politicians as their official candidates for the by-elections.

Addressing reporters in Tiruchy, Palaniswami launched a sharp critique against the TVK administration: Palaniswami stated that the TVK government is “standing on borrowed legs” rather than an authentic public mandate, relying on political maneuvering to maintain power. [He likened the TVK’s poaching tactics to “luring children playing on the street with candy,” pointing out the hypocrisy of a party that initially campaigned on the platform of clean and transparent governance.

The AIADMK chief highlighted that forcing these “unnecessary” by-elections just months into the legislative term places an unfair financial burden on the public exchequer.