Udhayanidhi Stalin, EPS call each other cockroaches, poisonous mushrooms over name of Tamilnadu welfare schemes – Tamilnadu News

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and AIADMK Opposition Leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) continued to wage a war of words over late DMK patriarch Kalaignara Karunanidhi’s naming of state schemes. In the latter, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin called the EPS a “cockroach” and the latter retaliated by calling the Deputy Chief Minister a “poisonous mushroom”.

Udhayanidhi Stalin, echoing the sentiments expressed earlier by his father, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, hit EPS: “Opposition leader Edapadi K. Palanisamy gets angry watching our plans as people sing their praises. People praise our chief minister, but he is jealous. He also asked why all the schemes were named after Kalaignar. Why don’t we name the scheme after Kalaignar who dedicated his life to Tamilnadu and its people till the age of 96? Should they be named after the cockroach that crawled in Kuvatur?’ he asked, referring to the AIADMK’s infamous 2017 resort episode during the party’s leadership crisis.

Udhayanidhi further alleged that the EPS’s opposition to the names of the schemes extended even to the AIADMK’s own icons such as MGR and Jayalalithaa. “But he would readily accept schemes named after Modi or Amit Shah,” he claimed. He also accused the EPS of hypocrisy over BJP alliances, citing recent changes in AIADMK’s stand. “Three months ago, he ruled out ties with the BJP. But after the IT raid in Salem, he left the door open. One more raid and the AIADMK could merge completely with the BJP,” he added.

In a scathing rebuttal, the EPS turned the tables on Udhayanidhi, comparing him to a “poisonous mushroom that blossomed after yesterday’s rain”. Palaniswami accused the deputy chief minister of being unable to lecture him, pointing to his own fifty-year journey within the AIADMK. “I have held various positions in the party and have a long history of service. What experience do you bring?” he asked.

The EPS also criticized the DMK’s change of stance on PM Modi, recalling Udhayanidhi’s earlier appeal of “Come back Modi”, which he said had now turned into “Welcome Modi” under Chief Minister Stalin.

Earlier, Udhayanidhi had accused the EPS of political hypocrisy and accepted the challenge of a debate on naming state schemes after Kalaignar Karunanidhi.