Neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor his "daddy" can save Tamil Nadu's ruling party if it fails to win enough assembly seats -- eight -- to shore up support for its government, TTV Dhinakaran says.
Eighteen assembly constituencies will soon hold bypolls in Tamil Nadu -- a crucial test for the AIADMK government of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Last year, the Madras High Court upheld the disqualification of 18 AIADMK lawmakers loyal to Dhinakaran, himself a rebel party leader who has launched his own party, AMMK.
Seventeen of the bypolls scheduled for April 18 (also the day on which Tamil Nadu elects its Lok Sabha MPs) are for seats vacated by the dissident AIADMK MLAs.
The other seat, Tiruvaur, was represented by DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi until his death in 2018.
Dhinakaran's comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he made on the campaign trail in Pollachi, appear to mock a remark recently made by Tamil Nadu minister KT Rajendra Bhalaji.
He said Modi, whose BJP has parterned with the AIADMK for the Lok Sabha election, was his party's "daddy" in the absence of J Jayalalithaa, the former AIADMK supreme fondly referred to by supporters as "Amma".
(Inputs from Lokpria Vasudevan)
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