Jaya mocks Stalin's tour, slams oppn's 'campaign of lies'

Chennai: Chief minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday took a swipe at DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and his son, M K Stalin, and narrated a story to imply that Stalin's 'Namakku Naame' tour of the state was only an attempt by the son to achieve political success on his own, sans his father's support.
On Wednesday, the AIADMK leader solemnized the weddings of the children of 14 AIADMK ministers and party functionaries from across the state.Later, addressing the gathering, Jayalalithaa issued a clarion call to party cadres to "ensure our grand victory in the polls". She then narrated the story of a son who asks his father to teach him about politics and the latter refusing to do so. "The father told the son that politics is dangerous and that there is no place for relationships like father-son here," she said. When the son persisted, the father asked him to bring a ladder and climb up to a loft, to fetch a book which contained all his political strategies.
When the son climbs up, the father removes his hand from the ladder and the son falls down. She said the father's response to his son's agony was, "If you learn everything now itself, who will respect me?"
The AIADMK chief then said that this was the son's first lesson in politics - that he could not trust his own father, and that "we ourselves" ('nammai naame') have to find our success. [Appanaa irundhalum namba koodadhu, nammai naame than vallarthukolla vendum.]
Though the reference to the DMK leaders was not lost on anyone, she added, "I only narrated this story to tell you how dangerous politics is. If you imagined anyone else, I am not responsible for it," to thunderous applause.
She also lashed out at the opposition for carrying out a "campaign of lies" against AIADMK and the government, alleging that their aim was to criticise as they were unable to "digest" state's progress. She urged cadres not to be intimidated by such campaigns but further strengthen their resolve to ensure the party's victory in the election.
She requested cadres "to do adequate field work" to ensure victory in the polls. "If you cannot do it, who else can? I am confident that you will certainly do it," she said.