Opposition AIADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswami on Friday mocked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, saying that as an astrologer, he predicts the potential collapse of the DMK regime and that his forecast will come true in the 2026 assembly election.
“Yes, I am an astrologer. The DMK alliance is not intact as claimed by Stalin. For the past three years, allies of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have remained silent. But now they have started questioning the government. All is not well, my prediction will come true in the assembly election due in 2026,” he told party workers in Salem district.
Despite Stalin refuting EPS’ allegations of any crack in the alliance as a figment of imagination and maintaining that there are only debate and conversation with partners, the AIADMK general secretary has continued to reiterate his charge.
“The DMK is not as strong as is being portrayed. For, it is heavily dependent upon its allies and the alliance will come unstuck. Rather than standing on its achievements, the DMK is sitting pretty on the shoulders of its alliance partners. The AIADMK will bounce back to power,” he said, in what appears to be an attempt at keeping the cadre in good humour.
On Thursday, Stalin had rubbished the EPS claim and said the Leader of the Opposition has become an astrologer and is day dreaming. “EPS remains sidelined by the people. The success of the DMK government’s welfare and developmental programmes has made the leader of the opposition jealous and frustrated.
“He is claiming that the DMK’s support is waning. So far, I thought that he was daydreaming, but now it has become clear that he has taken a new avatar of an astrologer,” Stalin said, adding that the alliance was not formed to gain power and office, but is based on ideological principles.
While the DMK in heading the INDIA bloc in the southern state, the AIADMK, which had snapped its ties with the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has an alliance with minor parties like the DMDK of late actor Vijayakant and Puthiya Thamizhagam, a dalit party.