Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the TVK and its leadership, alleging that the state was witnessing “the worst regime in the country” and claiming that the ruling dispensation would not survive.Addressing a campaign meeting at Madurantakam, Palaniswami said the by-election had been necessitated after the MLA elected on an AIADMK ticket resigned and joined the TVK. “This is a murder of democracy. The voters’ mandate has been sold,” he alleged, asking voters whether the former MLA should be punished to deter similar defections in the future.Rejecting TVK leader Vijay’s claim that his party represented a transparent and “pure force” (Thooya Sakthi), Palaniswami said the party had become a “force of theft” (Thiruttu Sakthi) after allegedly poaching MLAs.The AIADMK leader also said allegations by the Left parties, which extend outside support to the TVK, that cash was being offered to voters during door-to-door campaigning showed that the party was not clean. The govt would collapse if its allies raised their voices even slightly. ““It is a party that deceives the people. We do not have to do anything; the govt will fall on its own,” he said.The former chief minister alleged that the state govt failed to control inflation and maintain law and order. He claimed that GST revenue had declined while the state’s borrowings had increased, warning that the state’s debt burden could reach nearly Rs 20 lakh crore over the next five years if the trend continued. He also accused the government of adopting a “double standard” on land acquired for the now-abandoned Parandur airport project, alleging that its position had changed after it came to power.
