Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: AIADMK general secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that if the party comes to power following the Tamil Nadu assembly elections on April 23, his government would investigate a viral video in which senior DMK leader A Raja allegedly claimed that chief minister and DMK supremo MK Stalin kept his late father, M Karunanidhi, under “house arrest” during the DMK veteran’s final days. Palaniswami insisted that Stalin should direct his anger at Raja, not at him. “Mr. Stalin, don’t vent your anger on me. Direct it at your deputy general secretary and former Union minister A Raja, who released the audio that went viral. I was only reporting what Raja disclosed in his message. Why get annoyed? Show your anger at Raja, and he will tell the truth. There’s no point in taking it out on me,” the ex-Tamil Nadu chief minister told supporters at an election rally in Arani, Tiruvannamalai district. He further claimed that Stalin’s elder brother and former Union minister MK Alagiri had previously stated that “my father is being held as a prisoner.” “I had only repeated what Raja disclosed. Is it fair to confine your own father, who made you the working president of DMK, to his house during his last days? Your elder brother Alagiri had said that his father was being held as a prisoner,” Palaniswami added. Recalling Stalin’s announcement ahead of the 2021 assembly elections to order a probe into the 2016 death of AIADMK stalwart and former chief minister J Jayalalithaa and her 75-day hospitalisation, Palaniswami remarked, “You said you would probe the former chief minister’s demise. Karunanidhi was also a former chief minister. The AIADMK will initiate a state-led inquiry into Raja’s audio and take appropriate legal action.” Responding to the allegations, Stalin dismissed them as “baseless and offensive” and cautioned Palaniswami to focus his criticism on the chief minister’s performance. He emphasised that Karunanidhi was resting due to age-related ailments and accused Palaniswami of having “crossed all red lines.” The counting of votes for all 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu is scheduled for May 4.
