EPS Rejects DMK Tie-Up Talk, Blames Vijay for AIADMK Defections; TVK Hits Back Over "Midnight Politics"

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on July 15, speaking to reporters after a consultative meeting with party functionaries in Salem district, dismissed as "baseless" reports of a possible AIADMK-DMK tie-up to form a government, asserting that his party would "decimate both the present and former ruling parties."

Palaniswami rejected Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's recent remark describing the AIADMK and DMK as "partners in theft," saying the Chief Minister should exercise greater restraint in his public statements. He also questioned the performance of the TVK government during its initial months in office, saying there was little clarity on its effectiveness.

Hitting back at Vijay over defections from the AIADMK to TVK, Palaniswami said, "It was Vijay who persuaded AIADMK legislators to resign and join his party. If anyone deserves that label, it is Vijay."

TVK's Information Technology wing responded sharply on social media, alleging that Palaniswami had himself held "midnight meetings" to plan a coalition with the DMK, and that his remarks about democratic values "only invite uncontrollable laughter" given his own record.

The exchange is the latest in an escalating war of words between the AIADMK and the ruling TVK, coming days after Palaniswami separately claimed the TVK government was unstable and could collapse at any time.