Joining issue with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin over his reported contention on Katchatheevu issue hours earlier in Ramanathapuram district, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday (October 3, 2025) charged that the former, by projecting the AIADMK as being uninterested in retrieving the islet in the interests of fishermen, was indulging in “drama and deception”.History establishes that the then DMK government in 1974 under Chief Ministership of M. Karunanidhi failed to prevent the Congress government at the Centre from handing over the island “on a platter” to Sri Lanka. The AIADMK led by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, on the other hand, had filed a case before the Supreme Court on the issue (in 2008) calling for retrieval of the island, Mr. Palaniswami said, during his road show at Palacode in Dharmapuri district.The people of the State, he said, will not forget that the DMK, while enjoying power for 11 years at the Centre, failed to take up cudgels for the fishermen in struggle. “Don’t assume you can get away by levelling such charges with an eye on vote bank. The AIADMK is keeping a constant watch on whatever you speak and will give a befitting response,” Mr. Palaniswami said.The AIADMK will remain focussed on people’s welfare, unlike Mr. Stalin’s DMK government, which, he claimed, was intent on perpetuating family rule. Mr. Palaniswami, while acknowledging the significance of Mr. Stalin’s immediate visit to Karur after the stampede to console the families of 41 victims questioned the latter for not having responded the same way after the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that had claimed 68 lives of poor people, mostly those belonging to Scheduled Caste groups.The DMK, Mr. Palaniswami said, was unfit to comment on the ideology of AIADMK in the context of its alliance with the BJP. Seeking to buttress his statement, the AIADMK general secretary displayed a poster depicting Mr. Karunanidhi and former Union Minister Murasoli Maran sitting on either sides of the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and together adjusting the mike in front from both sides.Further, the BJP and AIADMK were on a common plank to uproot the “corrupt” DMK regime, Mr. Palaniswami said, and questioned the DMK’s presence in INDIA bloc portraying conflicting political posturing of unison at the Centre, and indulgence in bickering amongst constituents in the States of Kerala, Delhi and West Bengal.It was ridiculous on Mr. Stalin’s part to cast aspersions on the visit of NDA panel of BJP MPs to Karur in the aftermath of the stampede, at a time when the entire country was grieving over the tragedy.“Also, being in alliance with Congress that had jailed DMK leaders, including you (Mr. Stalin), under MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), your talk about ideology lacks substance,” Mr. Palaniswami said.There was no safety anymore for people in Tamil Nadu. The rape of a woman by two police constables in Tiruvannamalai district was the latest case in point of the breakdown in law and order situation in the State, Mr. Palaniswami said, during his road show that covered Pennagaram and Papparpatti.Murugan respondsMeanwhile, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan has said Mr. Stalin did not have any moral right to speak about the welfare of fishermen. In a statement, he alleged that Mr. Stalin was repeatedly uttering lies on the issue and dreaming that people would forget the mistakes of the DMK. “The then Congress government at the Centre and the then DMK government, led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, ceded control of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, without seeking public opinion,” Mr. Murugan said.“Between 2004 and 2014 [actually till 2013], the DMK was in alliance with the Congress and enjoyed power [at the Centre], and the Katchatheevu and fishermen issues did not come to its mind,” he said. “Hiding the mistake committed by his father, the son is shedding crocodile tears...”The Congress-DMK alliance betrayed the people on the Katchatheevu issue and Mr. Stalin should tender an apology, he said. The two parties did not have any moral right to question the Union government. Only the BJP government would take measures to retrieve the islet and safeguard the rights of the fishermen, he said.Mr. Murugan said the Chief Minister did not have any moral right to question the Central government on the Karur stampede after failing to provide security to people. “The law and order situation in Tamil Nadu is laughable and without any concern for it, the Chief Minister who handles the police portfolio is commenting about [the] Manipur [violence],” he said.