PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss has said that the decision of joining with the AIADMK after eight years was to ensure that Tamil rights are ensured in the state. Ramadoss believes that Tamil Nadu's welfare lies in being part of the NDA if it forms the next government at the Centre.
Chennai: With criticisms regarding its alliance with the ruling AIADMK, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said that the joint venture for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections was decided upon with the intention to uphold Tamil Nadu's rights on various issues.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss also asserted the party would support any anti-graft action against state ministers if corruption charges against them were proved.
On the PMK's stand now on corruption charges against the AIADMK over which it had earlier petitioned the state Governor seeking action, Anbumani Ramadoss insisted his party remained firm on its stated position.
"Regarding the petition we had submitted to the Governor, action should be taken if the charges are proved. I will be the first person to seek the resignation of those ministers concerned," he added.
Last Tuesday, the AIADMK had struck poll-pacts with the BJP and the PMK, allotting five and seven seats to them respectively out of the total 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
PMK has come under sharp attack from the DMK and several other opposition parties and a section of the civil society for aligning with the AIADMK after being a vocal critic of the same party on issues, including corruption all along.
Defending the tie-up, Ramadoss, Lok Sabha member from Dharmapuri, pointed to the ten-point charter of demands PMK had presented to the AIADMK prior to confirming the alliance.
The demands included ensuring release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and implementation of prohibition, he said adding that chief minister K Palaniswami, also the AIADMK joint coordinator, has agreed to 'consider' most of them.
The AIADMK was on the same page regarding the release of Murugan, Santhan, AG Perarivalan, Robert Payas, Ravichandran, S Jayakumar and Nalini, all life convicts, he said.
The state Cabinet had last September recommended to Governor Banwarilal Purohit for their premature release, saying they were in prison for about 27 years.
Ramadoss said his father and PMK founder leader S Ramadoss had held discussions with a large number of workers, functionaries and office-bearers before finalising the alliance.
Admitting that the party had in the past decided not to align with either the DMK or the AIADMK, the PMK youth wing leader said the situation has, however, changed, following the demise of AIADMK's J Jayalalithaa and former chief minister M Karunanidhi of the DMK.
"We stuck to the position of not aligning with the two parties for eight years. But today, the situation is different. Today our rights have to be retrieved," he said.
He also pointed to the prevailing national political scene and said leaders like Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Sharad Pawar (NCP) and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu were now with the Congress though they had been very critical of it in the past.
Anbumani Ramadoss went on to say, "The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who were once at loggerheads had come together in Uttar Pradesh. Even Shiv Sena, which had been attacking the BJP, has confirmed its alliance with the saffron party in Maharashtra."
Hitting back at DMK president MK Stalin, Anbumani Ramadoss said that perhaps Stalin was afraid of the prospects of AIADMK-led alliance's victory.
With the confidence that the AIADMK-led alliance, which also has the BJP, will sweep the coming polls, Anbumani Ramadoss said it will be easier for ensuring Tamil Nadu's welfare by being part of the NDA if it forms the next government at the Centre.
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