Tamil Nadu election 2021 live news: Stalin a trader, will sell Tamil Nadu if CM, says Anbumani

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami never misses a chance to proclaim that Edappadi assembly constituency in Salem district remains an impregnable fortress of the AIADMK. ‘Edappadiyar,’ as he is fondly called by the partymen nowadays, points out that the last time the DMK tasted victory in this segment was five decades ago. The opposition camp won the segment in 2006, when the PMK candidate, as an ally of the DMK, defeated the AIADMK. But the victory could largely be attributed to the PMK rather than the DMK.

Unlike superstar Rajinikanth, actor Kamal Haasan did not keep his fans and the people on tenterhooks over his decision to enter politics. He jumped into the fray soon after making up his mind and launched his Makkal Needhi Maiam in February 2018 as a ‘centrist’ party that will not lean either extreme right or extreme left. This bold approach endeared him to the youth and the first-time voters as the party entered electoral politics in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, within 15 months of launch. Though the party secured a vote share of just 3.72%, as against its own expectation of around 8%, it did well in a few urban constituencies, where the vote share was in the range of 10%-12%.

Campaigning for his party’s sole candidate contesting from Chennai, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss came down hard on the DMK and its president M K Stalin, terming the party “a family-run company in which nepotism thrives”. PMK’s A V A Kasaali has been fielded against Udhayanidhi Stalin of the DMK in Chepauk-Triplicane constituency, a DMK bastion. “This election is about a farmer versus a trader,” Anbumani said referring to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and DMK president M K Stalin. “If the state goes to a trader (Stalin), Tamil Nadu will be sold.”

The DMK is an evil force vying for power after a decade while the AIADMK is made up of traitors and people should reject both, said AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran on Sunday. Campaigning for his alliance party candidates contesting in Thanjavur and Ariyalur districts, he said people should elect AMMK candidates as they were the real successors of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday promised to create a new district with Arani as headquarters if voted back to power. Better accessibility to the district headquarters has been a long-pending of Arani voters. At present, those residing in and around Arani have to travel at least 60km to reach the local district collector’s office in Tiruvannamalai. If bifurcated as promised, Arani will be Tamil Nadu’s 39th district. In the past five years, six new districts have been created.

With the campaign heat for the assembly election picking up in Tamil Nadu, DMK president M K Stalin accused Edappadi K Palaniswami of kicking the ladder (V K Sasikala) that helped him grow in his political career. Betrayal is more poisonous than a snake or a lizard, he said on Sunday. Addressing an election meeting at Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram district in support of the candidates of the DMK and its allied parties, Stalin said it was not the people who voted Palaniswami to become the chief minister. “He became the chief minister because (former chief minister) J Jayalalithaa died and (deputy chief minister) O Panneerselvam became angry,” Stalin said.