AIADMK raises heat and dust over Annamalai's remark on Edappadi Palaniswami

Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai is in the eye of the storm from AIADMK for targeting Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), the general secretary of his former ally AIADMK, who made claims of significant drug busts occurring in North India, particularly involving Adani Port in Gujarat's Mundra.

Madurai:Tamil Nadu's main Opposition party AIADMK passed a resolution against state BJP president K Annamalai over his remarks against its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. In the resolution, the AIADMK said that it would 'retaliate appropriately' if Annamalai continued to comment against Edappadi K Palaniswami.

"Annamalai has been making comments in bad taste against ADMK general secretary Edapadi Palaniswami and if he continues making such comments against the party's leaders, appropriate retaliation will be given," it said. Annamalai, earlier strongly criticised Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), the general secretary of his former ally AIADMK, who made claims of significant drug busts occurring in North India, particularly involving Adani Port in Gujarat's Mundra.

Asked about EPS's comments, Annamalai said that the former Chief Minister was speaking "without understanding anything". "It is a victory if a drug bust occurs in a border state. You should appreciate and present the team with an award for catching the drugs in Mudra port. The former Chief Minister should understand this and not speak in a half-baked manner," Annamalai said.

Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has initiated criminal defamation proceedings against AIADMK general secretary and former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai for making statements linking Chief Minister MK Stalin to the recent arrests made by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drug haul case.

City public prosecutor G Devarajan, who filed a complaint on behalf of the CM, said that while the chief minister had been taking serious steps to make Tamil Nadu drug-free, the defamatory statements made by the leader of the opposition Palaniswami in a recent interview attempted to falsely link Stalin to the distribution of contraband.

Devarajan, in his complaint, submitted that Palaniswami, the state Leader of the Opposition in a recent press meeting made defamatory statements against the CM, intending to harm the reputation of Stalin in respect of his conduct in the discharge of his public functions.

He said while the chief minister has taken various steps towards 'Drug-free Tamil Nadu', the present defaming statement of the accused falsely links him to the alleged distribution of contraband by aiding drug peddlers.

Devarajan said in fact, the Chief Minister, in the course of discharging his public function, gave the call to eliminate narcotic drugs from the state at a meeting in 2022, pursuant to which numerous measures were taken, as was evident from the Policy Note 2023-2024 of the Department of Home, Prohibition and Excise, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Read more