DMK chief Stalin likens AIADMK to 'circus camp', claims gutkha scam alone would unseat govt

Chennai: Ridiculing the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, DMK leader MK Stalin on Friday likened it to a "circus camp", claiming that the "gutkha scam" alone would unseat the government and there was no need for his party to topple it.

"It is a circus camp.... Each day, a person from the ruling party issues a statement. A propaganda is on that we are planning to topple the government. There is no need for it...The gutkha scam alone will unseat them," the DMK working president told reporters here.

The AIADMK is currently divided into camps led by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, former chief minister O Panneerselvam and the party deputy general secretary and nephew of party chief V K Sasikala, T T V Dhinakaran, respectively.

Last year, Income Tax raids at an illegal gutkha manufacturing unit here had led to the unearthing of documents, which pointed towards alleged bribes to a minister and officials, including a senior police officer.

The DMK has been targeting the government over it and the issue also went to the Madras High Court. Palaniswami had said a vigilance inquiry into the matter was on.

To a question, Stalin said though the state government had claimed that it was contemplating promulgating an ordinance on the NEET issue, "efforts do not seem to have been taken towards that".

He accused the state government of adopting "double standards" and staging "dramas" over the issue.

The political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the AIADMK and DMK, are opposed to the NEET, maintaining that the rural and urban poor and students from oppressed castes would be affected, which in turn would pose a threat to social justice.

Earlier, Stalin called on CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan, who was detained by the police at a marriage hall in north Chennai, for staging a demonstration on the NEET issue.

CPI state secretary R Mutharasan had taken part in a human chain demonstration held by the DMK here yesterday.