A legal notice has been sent by the ruling AIADMK to the editors of all press and television media outlets against printing or broadcasting “false, unfounded and baseless allegations and propaganda” by DMK president MK Stalin against Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and the state government. Stalin, the DMK chief responded by declaring that he will quit politics if he could not prove the allegations he submitted as a memorandum to the state government.
In the legal notice signed by advocate Babu Kumaravel, AIADMK has listed eight specific allegations reportedly made by MK Stalin and published by various media houses and has offered its rebuttal. The unusual notice sent by the AIADMK alleged that the articles carried DMK’s election campaign propaganda claims, which were false and baseless.
The notice pointed to order from the Madras High Court to MK Stalin, telling him not to level any unfounded allegation and comment against the chief minister and the state of Tamil Nadu.
The notice also asked media outlets not to give space to such allegations without verifying its authenticity and went on to threaten legal action if media houses continued to publish such statements.
Meanwhile attending a grama sabha at Devarayapuram in Coimbatore, DMK President M K Stalin on Saturday vowed to quit politics if he failed to prove the corruption charges he levelled against Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration minister S P Velumani. Responding to Velumani’s challenge to prove the corruption charges levelled against him or quit politics, Stalin said, “I am ready to quit politics. Are you (Velumani) ready?”
Referring to the memorandum submitted by the DMK to the governor last month listing corruption charges against the chief minister and his colleagues, Velumani had said he would step down from his post if the charges were proved and sought to know whether Stalin was ready to quit politics if he failed to do so. “We will not only prove the charges against the minister but also drag him to the court of law and get him punished for his corrupt deeds,” Stalin said.
The grama sabha also witnessed tense moments when an AIADMK women functionary tried to question Stalin and eventually manhandled by DMK cadres. The woman identified as Poongudi, AIADMK women’s wing president in Coimbatore district, attended the grama sabha meeting arranged by MK Stal in Devarayapuram on Saturday. When Stalin has asked her to vacate the venue as she is not from Devarayapuram, she questioned Stalin’s credentials to conduct a grama sabha in Coimbatore when he did not know the place. Stalin then asked cadres to escort her outside the venue and handover her to police. But outside the venue irate DMK cadres attacked AIADMK cadres, but police intervened to rescue them. Stalin later alleged that she has been sent by Minister Velumani.
Stalin has been conducting grama sabha campaigns under the banner ‘We reject AIADMK’ since December. ahead of Assembly Elections, The DMK chief has planned to participate in grama sabha meeting across 16,500 village panchayats in the state.
Though the state government has banned gram sabha meetings, the party was holding people’s gram sabha meetings and lauded the participation in large numbers, as they had given a big mandate to DMK in the last Lok Sabha and local body elections.
Meanwhile, DMK on Friday denied inviting All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi for the alliance meeting scheduled in Chennai on January 6.