CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretary P Shanmugham said that political defections allegedly engineered by the BJP in several states cannot be compared to the developments unfolding in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai on July 15 after meeting Chief Minister Vijay, Shanmugham said, “Whoever engages in horse-trading, no matter who it is, it is highly condemnable. There is a difference between someone willingly coming to join a party versus enticing them with false promises or offering a specific sum of money to secure their defection; all of that is condemnable. More importantly, the public needs to get angry. If an MLA I cast my vote to elect decides to resign within 20 days, the voters of that constituency should stand up and oppose them. If that happens, these issues won’t arise. The anger must come from the people.”
When asked why the Left parties condemned such defections in north Indian states but not in Tamil Nadu, he said, “We are condemning it here as well. Secondly, these individuals are resigning before switching sides, so there is a difference between the two scenarios. The BJP’s method involves taking engineering defections of MPs and MLAs while they are still holding office, engineering splits in parties into two or three factions, and bringing them over in bulk to artificially boost their own strength. Here, they are resigning, and the internal conflicts within the AIADMK are also playing a role in this. You cannot equate the two.”
He further added, “Many leaders are leaving the AIADMK as a direct consequence of their internal party disputes. That is the realistic fact. Not happy with Edappadi’s leadership, many are walking out. These are full-time politicians who need a political platform, so they are joining where they find it suitable. However, if there is any element of horse-trading involved, as you mentioned, then it is absolutely condemnable.”
Since TVK came to power, six AIADMK MLAs have resigned from the Assembly and joined the party. While the CPI(M) maintained that the developments in Tamil Nadu were not comparable to the BJP’s alleged engineering of defections in other states, the CPI has taken a different stand, describing the defections in Tamil Nadu as horse-trading.