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Newbies want to destroy DMK: Stalin on Vijay’s vibe

People keep starting new parties and attack the DMK thinking they can destroy the party, but there is no need to waste time and respond to them, chief minister MK Stalin said.

Updated on: Nov 5, 2024, 06:32:03 IST
By , Chennai
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People keep starting new parties and attack the DMK thinking they can destroy the party, but there is no need to waste time and respond to them, chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin said on Monday in his first reaction to actor-politician Vijay.

Actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder, Vijay, during the party’s executive committee meeting in Chennai on Sunday. (ANI)
Actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder, Vijay, during the party’s executive committee meeting in Chennai on Sunday. (ANI)

The actor who floated Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) earlier this year has quit cinema at the peak of his career to contest in the 2026 assembly elections. Vijay has positioned himself as the prime challenger of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whom he referred to as TVK’s political and ideological enemies at the fledgling party’s first state conference held last week on October 27.

On Sunday, TVK released 26 resolutions for the party which attacked the policies of the state and central governments run by the DMK and BJP, respectively.

In response, Stalin said: “They want to oppose the DMK. They are envious of the DMK’s growth and that’s the reason for them to oppose our party. There are so many people, newbies, who have taken a plunge into politics with an aim to destroy the DMK. My humble submission to them is to see our work in the last four years.”

While speaking at a public event in Chennai, Stalin also invoked DMK founder C N Annadurai and said: “Like Anna said, I can only say long live those who oppose us…We don’t have to respond to others needlessly... We want to use our time to serve the people.”

Vijay had at the conference on Sunday announced that Annadurai would be one of the leaders that TVK would take inspiration from. He also told a massive gathering of more than 200,000 people that his two enemies are - the ruling governments in the state and Centre, the DMK and BJP.

After Vijay’s conference, DMK ministers said that Vijay had copied their policies and is a stooge of the BJP. The national party went on the defensive that they are not divisive. Leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswami, meanwhile, welcomed Vijay and said that he didn’t mention AIADMK because the party is functioning well.

On Sunday, Vijay had promised to abolish the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), condemned the policy of “one nation and one election”, sought the withdrawal of the Waqf Amendment Bill and to close state run liquor shops in a phased manner. He also opposed a greenfield airport (a second airport for Chennai) proposed at Parandur which is being executed by the DMK government.

  • Divya Chandrababu
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Divya Chandrababu

    Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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