Days after exiting the BJP-led NDA, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday said it was the decision of the “two crore AIADMK cadre”. He also urged the minorities to support his party.
Addressing members of the party’s booth committee at Suramangalam in Salem, he said the AIADMK would form a grand alliance for the upcoming parliamentary election. “Understanding the feelings of two crore AIADMK cadre, we severed ties with the BJP and came out of the NDA. This is not the decision of the general secretary; this is the decision of the cadre. I want to put an end to the claim being made in television debates that I am maintaining silence on this issue,” he said.
Alluding to the assertion that it would be difficult for the AIADMK to face the Lok Sabha election without projecting a prime ministerial candidate, he said political parties in Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were facing elections without announcing a PM candidate.
