Jayalalithaa alone responsible for my growth, says Edappadi Palanisamy

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy on Friday asserted that no one except former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was responsible for his growth in politics and recalled that he was a party functionary in 1974 itself.

Palanisami said he began his political career as Sivanmalai branch secretary of the party and formed Jayalalithaa Peravai in 1985.

He further said he won from Edappadi constituency in the 1989 Assembly elections when the Jayalalithaa faction contested the elections alone and then was reelected from the same seat in 1991 on the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.

The Chief Minister recalled that he was chosen as the party candidate for the Tiruchengode Parliament constituency in 1998. He said he was elected from Edappadi seat in the 2011 and 2016 Assembly elections and was made a minister on both the terms.

He was nominated as the propaganda secretary and the headquarters secretary by Jayalalithaa, Palanisami said and asserted that no one other than Jayalalithaa was instrumental in his political growth.