Chennai: Enthused by the Supreme Court approving the Madras High Court order of July 20, handing over the keys of AIADMK headquarters to his group, interim general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami, girdled up to take on the DMK government on the hike in power tariff by calling for a state-wide agitation on September 16, putting off the proposed C N Annadurai birth anniversary celebrations.
Though Palaniswami had, on last Saturday, urged his followers to organize a series of events to mark the 114th birth anniversary of Annadurai from September 15 to 21, he changed his plans and issued a statement on Monday postponing the celebrations to September 22 and announcing protests in all district headquarters on Friday.
Perhaps in a bid to strike while the iron was hot, Palaniswami felt that he could endear himself to people better through the protest against power tariff hike, the latest problem that was being popularly discussed in political circles and social media, rather than organizing celebrations to commemorate the birth anniversary of Annadurai.
The Supreme Court order letting him have full control over the Puratchi Thalivar MGR Maligai, the party headquarters in Lloyds Road, also came in as a stimulant to Palaniswami, who wanted to make use of the successive victories against the rival Panneerselvam faction to establish his position as the Leader of the Opposition.
So, he came down heavily on the DMK government, accusing it of capturing power by making false promises during elections and reneging in their vow to not raise the power rates if elected to power, and demanded the summary withdrawal of the increase in rates.
The protests by AIADMK cadre, functionaries and leaders would be held at 10.30 am on Friday at all district headquarters, he announced, making a clarion call to the members of the public to also take part in the agitation.
Since the earlier court orders on the dispute over his election as interim general secretary had come in his favour, apart from Monday’s Supreme Court verdict on the headquarters that was ravaged by the supporters of Panneerselvam on July 11, Palaniswami seems be all set to reach out to the people as the head to the AIADMK.
He could make use of the protest on September 16 to project himself as an alternative to Stalin and seek the people’s mandate in the next elections, even if he is not completely done with quelling the opposition from the Panneerselvam faction.
