The by-election battle for two Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu is turning increasingly personal, with AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami taking a swipe at Chief Minister and TVK chief Vijay’s personal life during his campaign in stronghold Dharapuram.
Palaniswami has described the bypolls as a battle for justice and has appealed to voters to teach the ruling TVK a fitting lesson, targeting the party for fielding former AIADMK MLAs.
“EPS hasn’t won elections after Jayalalithaa’s death. One should live with the wife and children with affection. Are you qualified to say this? Punch dialogues on stage are not enough. One should live it and demonstrate in real life. We do that. He also targeted Palaniswami over the AIADMK’s electoral record after the death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa. For the TVK, winning both seats would strengthen its position as a minority government and would set the tone for the remaining five vacant Assembly constituencies, where by-elections are expected later. The results could also be seen as a referendum on the performance of the Vijay-led government.
The bitter exchange comes as the TVK government seeks to improve its tally in the October 6 by-elections to Madurantakam and Dharapuram.
Seeking to target Vijay over what he described as questions of family values, Palaniswami said, “He says that he’d be a brother, uncle and one among the family. TVK spokesperson M Sathya Kumar said the “Dravidian party takes things personally” and claimed that Vijay had never made personal remarks against opposition leaders. That’s why AIADMK cadre switch to TVK,” Sathya Kumar said.
