Senior AIADMK leaders come to Palaniswami’s defence, flay Annamalai

Interacting with journalists in Krishnagiri on Monday, Mr. Munusamy had said that Mr. Palaniswami rose through the ranks to become the general secretary. Hence, Mr. Annamalai was not qualified to comment on the AIADMK chief.

In a statement, R.B. Udhayakumar, the party’s secretary of Puratchi Thalaivi Peravai and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, sought to know whether the BJP leader would make public the names of his friends who were financially supporting him to take care of his household expenses. “What is the fate of the DMK files released by Mr. Annamalai?,” he asked.

Dubbing Mr. Annamalai “a corporate firm’s manager,” AIADMK organisation secretary D. Jayakumar told reporters here on Tuesday that it was “ridiculous” to talk of the [political] eradication of the AIADMK, which had remained, over the years, as a banyan tree. “Regardless of the number of births he [Mr. Annamalai] may take, he cannot destroy the AIADMK,” he said.