"Strong with our decision, no pressure from anyone": AIADMK's Palaniswami on breaking ties with BJP

Salem (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 4 (ANI): All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami on Wednesday clarified that there was no pressure from anyone to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu.
"We are strong with our decision to break ties with the BJP. No one put any pressure on us to take this decision. A few incidents hurt our cadres," Edappadi Palaniswami said while speaking to reporters in Salem.
Palaniswami further said, "From Prime Minister Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda, no one put any pressure on us and we decided to break the ties with BJP respecting our cadres voice."
Edappadi Palaniswami also hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin over the Cauvery issue saying M K Stalin is the reason for today's situation in the state.
He should have demanded to solve the Cauvery issue before joining in INDIA coalition, Palaniswami said.
"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister should have raised the Cauvery issue before joining INDIA bloc like how Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal demanded for Delhi. CM Stalin should have spoken with Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi and should have put forward Tamil Nadu's demands to get Cauvery water. The Chief Minister lost his good chance. Already SC Verdicts are there how much Karnataka should give water to Tamil Nadu," he added.
He further said, "MK Stalin is the reason for today's situation in the state. MK Stalin only considers power as his priority. MK Stalin just wants to be in central power to save their corrupted money."
The AIADMK leader asserted that the party-led alliance will win all Parliament seats including Pondicherry.
"The AIADMK-led alliance will win all Parliament seats including Pondicherry. DMK didn't fulfil their election promises even though it's been over 2 years since DMK formed the government. Under DMK rule, people are struggling with price hikes in electricity, property tax and other basic necessities. People are facing challenges to run their lives under the DMK government. In this situation, we are facing a parliamentary election. We are sure the AIADMK-led alliance will have a plus in the upcoming election," he said.
On Tuesday's event in which AIADMK MLAs met Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Palaniswami said that it was just a "courtesy meet".
"AIADMK MLAs met Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday only for Constituency benefits. Some DMK leaders also met Union Ministers in Delhi. Does that mean they are forming an alliance? AIADMK MLAs' meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman was just a courtesy meeting for Constituency benefits. The MLAs explained about the coconut farmers' struggles to the Union Minister," Palaniswami added.
Attacking the INDIA bloc, Palaniswami said, "We are strong with our decision on breaking ties with the BJP. No drama in breaking ties with the BJP. The INDIA bloc is full of drama. See today in the INDIA bloc there are a lot of different opinions. That INDIA coalition is still not in full shape." (ANI)