EPS to spearhead protest against Raja

Though Palaniswami had put out a message on social media channel X on January 31 condemning Raja’s speech, immediately after the news of it came out, it took him so many days more to call for the protest.

It is said that the protest call came only after BJP State President K Annamalai taunted the AIADMK of being soft on the DMK leader as both the parties considered each other as kin (pangali in Tamil). To a question Annamalai said that the DMK and AIADMK were kin (pangalis) as an AIADMK leader himself had said.

Perhaps bristled by the allegation, Palaniswami called for the protest at Avinash that falls under Nilgiris constituency, which Raja represents in Parliament, and had called upon party leaders, functionaries and office-bearers of various AIADMK feeder organisations from Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Tiruppur districts to join the protest at 9 am on Friday.

Calling for the protest, Palaniswami hit out heavily on Raja, saying that he did not know history and the role that MGR played in bringing the DMK to power in 1967 and how much he had helped the late M Karunanidhi and Murasoli Maran come out of debts by acting pro bono in the 1970 Tamil film ‘Engal Thangam.’ J Jayalalithaa was paired with MGR in the film.

Palaniswami said that the help rendered by MGR was acknowledged by MGR and Maran and was also duly reported in the DMK party newspaper, 'Murasoli,' he said adding that Raja was too young to know all these facts.

Raja’s statement was unbecoming of the post of Union Minister that he had held as also of his position as Member of Parliament, Palaniswami said.