DMK is not accepting defeat, says Shanmugam

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is not accepting defeat and is trying different ways to return to power, claimed CPI(M) State Secretary P. Shanmugam in Coimbatore on Thursday (July 2).

The DMK is unable to accept the verdict of the people and is trying to bring down the TVK-led government. It tried forming a government jointly with the AIADMK. The CPI(M) did not accept it, and many in the DMK and the AIADMK also opposed it.

The DMK is trying different methods to return to power and the charge of horse trading is also part of its efforts to return to power, he alleged.

A few days ago, former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said there would be elections soon in the State. “This (horse trading) seems to be the background for it,” Mr. Shanmugam said.

It is not new in Tamil Nadu for elected representatives to switch parties. However, the CPI(M) raised the issue of other party MLAs joining the TVK with the TVK leadership and had expressed its discontent in this regard. “We were told then that the MLAs resigned from their parties and joined the TVK voluntarily. We said this was unhealthy politics and the TVK should not encourage it,” he added.

About 1.75 crore people voted for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. They wanted a change in government and wanted someone other than the DMK and the AIADMK.

Since the TVK emerged as the single largest party, the CPI(M) and the CPI decided to give external support.

Theft of minerals was high during the DMK regime, especially in Kanniyakumari district. The TVK should not extend the validity of the land reservation granted to Indian Rare Earths Limited by one year for its proposed beach sand atomic mineral mining project, he added.