Chennai, July 15: R. Nirmal Kumar, the Law Minister of Tamil Nadu and Joint Secretary of the Tamilaga Vetria Kazhagam (TVK), firmly rejected accusations that his party is enticing leaders from other parties with financial incentives. He emphasized that leaders joining TVK are doing so based on their political beliefs and ideologies, not for monetary gain.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Nirmal Kumar noted that many leaders from DMK and AIADMK have become disillusioned with their respective party leaderships, prompting them to leave voluntarily. He asserted that such decisions should not be labeled as political defection or horse-trading.
“Horse-trading implies that elected representatives are offered money or other inducements to switch parties. If a leader loses faith in MK Stalin or Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s leadership and chooses to pursue a different political path, that is a personal decision, not horse-trading,” he stated.
Nirmal Kumar claimed that TVK has neither approached nor persuaded any leaders to join the party. “We have not invited leaders from any political party. If they choose to resign from their party and express a desire to join TVK, how can we refuse them?” he questioned.
Targeting the opposition, he mentioned that allegations of political horse-trading are more related to former minister V. Senthil Balaji and his supporters. He dismissed a complaint made to the CBI by DMK’s organizational secretary R.S. Bharti regarding alleged bribery of legislators, calling it merely a “timepass” tactic.
The minister also launched a sharp critique against AIADMK, asserting that the main opposition party has significantly weakened since the assembly elections. According to him, AIADMK’s influence is now limited to a few districts in southern Tamil Nadu.
“Except for a few southern districts, the party’s organizational network is nearly non-existent. Many party workers do not even remember that they have a general secretary,” he remarked.
Commenting on discussions about potential future political alliances, Nirmal Kumar suggested that former AIADMK minister K.T. Rajendra Balaji and DMK minister Anita R. Radhakrishnan could serve as coordinators for a DMK-AIADMK alliance in the future.
Regarding governance, he stated that those wishing to meet Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay can schedule appointments through the Chief Minister’s office. He reiterated that there have been no changes to the state government’s bilingual policy.
On complaints related to party funding, he mentioned that investigations are ongoing, and appropriate actions will be taken where necessary.
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