AIADMK will lead alliance for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, no one can demand seats: D Jayakumar

Senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said Thursday that the party’s interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami will take a call on forming an alliance and seat-sharing in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in 2024 and no one can dictate terms.

Addressing reporters on the sidelines of an event in Chennai, Jayakumar slammed rebel leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) for challenging Palaniswami to start his own party. The former minister said they are the original AIADMK as they have the two leaves symbol, the party high command, and the support of the cadres. He said the court and the Election Commission of India have recognised only their faction and if someone has to start their party to prove their strength it has to be OPS.

Responding to a question on who will lead the Opposition alliance in Tamil Nadu in the next parliamentary elections, Jayakumar said the media should not spread fake news and tarnish the image of an age-old party like the AIADMK. “In the 2024 polls, a mega alliance under the AIADMK will be formed. They (political parties) will come to us to accept our leadership. We will decide on the number of seats. No one can demand anything,” Jayakumar said.

The AIADMK leader added the row over the expensive wristwatch of BJP leader K Annamalai is a strategy by the ruling DMK to divert people’s attention from discussing other pertinent issues in the state