The AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday decried reports in sections of the media that he would be joining the BJP.
In a four-page statement, Mr. Panneerselvam said he was saddened by the reports, which were aimed at “hurting me and my political career”.
He would work throughout his life to ‘protect’ the party in which he was working in tandem with Chief Minister and party co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami. He would also strive to take the party in a direction where the organisation would determine the politics of the country, Mr Pannerselvam said, expressing his gratitude to the party for having provided him a number of positions, including that of Chief Minister
Referring to the recent pact with the BJP for the parliamentary election, he recalled that former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had a similar understanding with the national party during the 1998 and 2004 Lok Sabha polls, besides working with it to ensure the election of A.P. J. Abdul Kalam as President.
“Patriotism and faith in god are among the factors responsible for the coming-together of the AIADMK and the BJP,” Mr. Panneerselvam said. Giving an account of the political relationship between Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said it was Jayalalithaa who ensured the adoption of several resolutions in the Rajya Sabha with the support of her party.