AIADMK girdles up loins to take on DMK

Chennai: AIADMK top leader and former Minister P Thangamani openly challenged Electricity Minister Thangam Thenarasu for a one-on-one debate on the functioning of the Electricity Department, countering the allegation that the AIADMK was responsible for the latest hike in electricity charges, on Wednesday, in what is seen as just another direct attack on the government by the opposition party that seems to be all set to go gung ho against the ruling party with the 2026 Assembly elections in mind.

Even in the ongoing postmortem exercise to figure out the reasons for the AIADMK’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections, party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has been telling the party functionaries to concentrate on devising strategies for the Assembly elections and not insist on readmitting leaders like O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala who were expelled by the General Council.

In the constituency-wise postmortem that resumed after a brief break on Wednesday, the local functionaries, it is learnt, have started grumbling about rival groups within party taking away votes, though Palaniswami had accepted the grudge that the lack of robust alliance was one reason for the defeat and had agreed to build a strong coalition before the 2026 elections.

By taking a tough stand against the DMK and the BJP, Palaniswami hopes to project the AIADMK as a viable alternative to the ruling DMK and has upped his ante against the State government in whatever way possible. That was why a state-wide protest against the hike in electricity charges was organized on Tuesday, which prompted Thennarasu to turn the tables on the AIADMK.

Not only was that charge rebutted immediately by Thangamani, the AIADMK is also finding new reasons to point fingers at the government. Palaniswami, who comes up with some charge or the other against the government, recently found fault in TASMAC not buying back the liquor bottles. Though the DMK invariably hits back on every charge, the idea of the AIADMK is to keep harping on something or the other about the government in a bid to defame it.

While the top leadership will mount the attacks on the government and also look for allies, the workers have been asked to strengthen the party at the grassroots level at the meetings organized to discuss the reasons for the defeat in the elections, which has been so bad that the BJP alliance had polled more votes than AIADMK candidates in some seats and even deprived them of their deposits.

Palaniswami had refused to buy the argument by some functionaries that by roping in the likes of V K Sasikala, Panneerselvam and T T V Dinakaran, the AIADMK could do better and asked them to look ahead and not dwell in the past. To send across the message that the AIADMK would not spare the BJP, too, Palaniswami made a scathing attack on the Union Budget depriving the State of its legitimate dues.

After meeting party functionaries from all the 39 constituencies, Palaniswami is expected to come up with renewed strategies and also make changes in the party structure based on the inputs in the meetings that would go on for some more time and gear up for the elections that he was desperate to win, party sources said.