Edappadi Palaniswami fights political reputation of becoming Tamil Nadu’s Nitish Kumar, subject to BJP whims
The Hindu
Edappadi Palaniswami navigates political challenges in Tamil Nadu, asserting AIADMK's independence amid critiques of BJP influence.
Political narratives, if left unchallenged, can tilt the balance in elections. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami appears more cognisant of this than anyone else in the electoral field in Tamil Nadu this election season.
Ever since he reluctantly returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last April at the behest of the BJP’s principal poll strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Palaniswami has been under attack from his rivals, chiefly from the ruling DMK and its allies.
Over the past few years, the DMK front has built a strong political narrative projecting the AIADMK leadership as being subservient to the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led Union government.
This perception was bolstered by the decision of the erstwhile AIADMK government, under both O. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami, to embrace certain Central schemes that Jayalalithaa, their predecessor, had strongly opposed during her lifetime. This included the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), which Tamil Nadu joined in January 2017, just a month after her death.
In recent times, this narrative gained further momentum after Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah repeatedly avoided endorsing Mr. Palaniswami as the NDA’s Chief Ministerial face in the upcoming Assembly election. Instead, the two leaders have publicly advocated a BJP-inclusive NDA government in Tamil Nadu, led by the AIADMK.
It is against this backdrop that DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is attempting to frame this Assembly election as a Tamil Nadu-versus-New Delhi contest.
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Edappadi Palaniswami navigates political challenges in Tamil Nadu, asserting AIADMK's independence amid critiques of BJP influence.
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