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Tamil Nadu politics: EPS discusses ‘poor governance’ of DMK with Amit Shah
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) on Tuesday held a “non-political” meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, and said he briefed the latter about the “deteriorating” law and order under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) on Tuesday held a “non-political” meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, and said he briefed the latter about the “deteriorating” law and order under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government.
This is the first meeting between the leaders after the AIADMK abolished its dual leadership system, facilitated by the central Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in 2017, and recently elected EPS as their solitary leader.
The meeting also comes amid a crucial time when the AIADMK is mired in legal battles. Expelled O Panneerselvam (OPS), considered close to the BJP top brass, has dragged the party to the court over leadership tussles, while VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran are also trying to reclaim the AIADMK.
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The BJP has steered clear of the turmoil, and refused to interfere in AIADMK’s “internal affairs”. EPS had not met Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was last in Chennai for the inauguration of the Chess Olympiad in July. He also clarified that there was no meeting scheduled with PM Modi in Delhi too.
Following his meeting with Shah, EPS spoke to reporters in Delhi describing the meeting as a courtesy call and that politics was not discussed. However, he did mention that they discussed impending issues from the state.
EPS, the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, alleged that drug sales were soaring in Tamil Nadu. “The state higher education minister recently said that the drugs were imported from other states, but it is up to the government to take steps to stop drugs coming into the state from wherever it is,” he said.
“We informed all this to the present DMK government but they failed to take action. So, we met and informed the Union home minister. Besides this, we also pointed out how murders, robbers, sexual assault has been consistently happening,” he said, adding that corruption has allegedly crept in all government departments.
EPS also urged Shah to implement the Godavari-Cauvery link to solve drinking water issues of the people in the state.
