AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami on Friday said that the party decided to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections alone only to protect the rights of the people of Tamil Nadu. Last month, AIADMK severed ties with NDA after a decision at a high-level meeting chaired by EPS at AIADMK Headquarters in Chennai. Addressing reporters in Coimbatore on Friday, Edappadi citing the dual stand taken by BJP and Congress on the Cauvery issue in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka said that it was the politics of national parties.



EPS said that his party decided to separately fight LS polls so that the voice of Tamil Nadu people would echo in Parliament and the rights of the people of the state could also be safeguarded, as reported by PTI. 


EPS said AIADMK's stand was all about the protection of the rights of Tamil Nadu and its people.


To a question on the scope to join hands with BJP again, EPS said, AIADMK already made its stand very clear and there was no point in discussing the matter. The former CM underlined that the party's priorities were the protection of Tamil Nadu people's rights, minority rights and the state's growth. He said that AIADMK would bat for all such goals with the Centre. 


Tamil Nadu's principal opposition party AIADMK withdrew from the BJP-led NDA alliance last month and announced it would form a separate coalition for the upcoming parliamentary elections.


Earlier, K Annamalai, the president of the Tamil Nadu BJP, downplayed the significance of the AIADMK's exit from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), saying that the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state will primarily be a contest between his party and the DMK which is currently in power.


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