RK Nagar Bypoll: Result is outcome of tacit understanding between Dinakaran, DMK

Party coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator K Palaniswami said DMK, their party's archrival, faced its "worst defeat" in an election to any Assembly segment in Tamil Nadu so far.

Chennai, December 25: After TTV Dinakaran's victory in RK Nagar bypoll, the ruling AIADMK alleged there was a 'tacit understanding' between TTV Dinakaran and the opposition DMK to defeat it the bypoll, where the sidelined party leader emerged victorious. The party is also likely to brainstorm on the defeat at a meeting in Chennai on Monday.

Party coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator K Palaniswami said DMK, their party's archrival, faced its "worst defeat" in an election to any Assembly segment in Tamil Nadu so far. The DMK candidate N Maruthu Ganesh finished third in the bypoll by garnering 24,651 votes, in the process losing deposit. Dinakaran won the prestigious RK Nagar Assembly bypoll by a thumping margin of over 40,000 votes.

"The result of the RK Nagar bypoll is an outcome of the tacit understanding between DMK Working President MK Stalin and Dhinakaran," Panneerselvam and Palaniswami said in a joint statement tonight.

It showed how Stalin and Dhinakaran planned to defame party founder, the late MG Ramachandran and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by joining hands to "defeat Two leaves," the AIADMK's symbol, they said.

"People are amazed how DMK is pushed to a situation where it could not even get the primary votes it has in RK Nagar.

At the same time, they are questioning how DMK can enter into a conspiracy with Dhinakaran to defame Amma," they added. Stalin had entered into such a "tacit understanding" unmindful of his party's performance as his sole intention was to target the AIADMK government, they alleged.

Taking a swipe at Dhinakaran, the two leaders said he had earlier been dismissed by Jayalalithaa along with other relatives of her confidante VK Sasikala.

They also accused him of "betraying" Jayalalithaa even after her death by allegedly joining hands with DMK.

They cited Dhinakaran's respsonse to the acquittal of DMK leaders Kanimozhi and A Raja, in the 2G spectrum allocation case on December 21, that he was happy for them as they hailed from Tamil Nadu.

"The election outcome shows he (Dhinakaran) received DMK votes as a reward for this. Realising he cannot take on AIADMK and Two Leaves directly, Stalin has diverted his party votes to Dhinakaran," they charged and accused the DMK leader of "betraying" his party.

The two AIADMK leaders also levelled allegations of money distribution against Dhinakaran. They said Dhinakaran's victory cannot be accepted as the "thought process" of the people of entire Tamil Nadu.

The win achieved by "conspiracy" by Stalin and Dhinakaran will not affect AIADMK nor was it a setback, they said. They vowed to take forward the "Amma rule" and deliver welfare and commit to upholding Jayalalithaa's fame.

PTI