Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Credit: PTI Photo
Erode: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has taken a veiled dig at expelled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan, claiming he joined actor Vijay-led TVK on the "advice" of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Also, taking a dig at the AIADMK leadership, Udhayanidhi accused the party leaders of "abandoning" the Dravidian ideology and functioning as "slaves" of the BJP in Delhi.
He was delivering the keynote address at Pudhiya Dravida Kazhagam's 6th State Conference here on Sunday. He alleged that many AIADMK leaders, including its chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, queue up in front of Shah's house in Delhi, competing for the "best slave" title.
Without naming Sengottaiyan, he claimed the former AIADMK MLA had joined Vijay's Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) at the behest of Shah.
"A senior former AIADMK minister from this region (Erode) too went on a spiritual journey to Delhi and met Shah and returned," he said.
"After meeting him, with his permission and following his advice, he joined another party," Udhayanidhi said, in an apparent reference to the local AIADMK heavyweight joining Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Vijay's presence in Chennai last week.
Sengottaiyan has since resigned as a legislator. He had represented Gobichettipalayam (Erode) in the Assembly.
"Even former ministers of the AIADMK today join any party only after taking permission from the BJP. To that extent, the head office controls them," Udhayanidhi alleged.
According to the DMK leader, in Tamil Nadu today, for many parties including the AIADMK, the head office is Shah's house in Delhi.
"A few months ago, you would have seen on television, in the news, that Palaniswami changed several cars and went to meet Amit Shah and returned," he added.