Chennai, July 14 (IANS). Tamil Nadu Law Minister and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) joint general secretary R. Nirmal Kumar on Tuesday rejected the allegation that his party is luring leaders of other parties and joining it. He said that the leaders joining TVK are not joining the party because of money or any inducement, but on the basis of their political thinking and beliefs.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Nirmal Kumar said that many leaders of DMK and AIADMK have become disappointed with the leadership of their respective parties and hence they themselves are deciding to leave the party.
He said that such voluntary decisions cannot be called political defection or horse-trading.
Nirmalkumar said, “Horse-trading means giving money or other inducements to elected public representatives to switch parties. If a leader loses faith in the leadership of MK Stalin or Edappadi K. Palaniswami and decides to follow some other political path, that is his personal decision and not horse-trading.”
He claimed that TVK has neither approached nor tried to persuade any leader to join the party.
He said, “We have not invited leaders of any political party. If they themselves express their desire to resign from their party and join TVK, how can we refuse them?”
Taking aim at the opposition, Nirmal Kumar said the allegations of political horse-trading have more to do with former minister V. Senthilbalaji and his supporters.
He also dismissed the complaint lodged by DMK organization secretary RS Bharti with the CBI on alleged horse-trading of MLAs, saying it was just a move to “pass time”.
The minister also launched a scathing attack on AIADMK. He claimed that after the assembly elections, the organization of the main opposition party has become very weak.
According to him, AIADMK’s influence is now limited only to a few districts in the southern part of Tamil Nadu.
He said, “Except a few southern districts, the organizational network of the party is almost destroyed. Many party workers do not even remember that they have a general secretary.”
Taking a dig at the ongoing discussions on possible future political alliances, Nirmal Kumar said that former AIADMK minister KT Rajendra Balaji and DMK minister Anita R. Radhakrishnan may also become the coordinator of the DMK-AIADMK alliance in future.
On questions related to governance, he said that those who want to meet Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay can take an appointment through the Chief Minister’s Office.
He also reiterated that there has been no change in the two-language policy of the state government.
Apart from this, on complaints related to party funds, he said that the cases are being investigated and appropriate action will be taken where necessary.
–IANS
AMT/DKP
