EPS Refused to Grant Appointment to Meet Chief Minister Vijay, Says Nirmal Kumar

State electricity minister R Nirmal Kumar has announced in Chennai that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami refused to grant an appointment to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. Speaking to reporters in the city on Tuesday, the minister sought to clarify the details surrounding the Chief Minister's recent outreach to various political leaders.

According to Nirmal Kumar, Vijay had formally sought an appointment to meet with Palaniswami after taking charge as the Chief Minister. However, this request was ultimately turned down by the AIADMK leader.

"It was EPS who refused to meet Vijay, and it was not the other way round," Nirmal Kumar told reporters in Chennai.

The minister’s comments were made in defense of Vijay, who had recently faced public flak. Critics had questioned why the Chief Minister chose to meet with former AIADMK minister C Ve Shanmugam, who was leading a pack of rebel AIADMK MLAs, instead of meeting with Palaniswami, the party's general secretary.

Addressing these criticisms, Nirmal Kumar explained that Vijay’s goal was to engage with every major political leader in the state. He emphasized that other senior leaders had willingly granted appointments to the Chief Minister.

Among the leaders Vijay successfully met were DMK president M K Stalin, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, and NTK chief Seeman. Nirmal Kumar pointed out that while these leaders accommodated the meetings, Palaniswami chose not to.

According to the minister, Palaniswami's refusal to meet with Vijay stood in contrast to the responses from other prominent political figures in Tamil Nadu. Nirmal Kumar further claimed that Palaniswami cited the current political situation as his reason for refusing the appointment. The minister added that some political figures in the state refused to meet with Vijay because they could not come out of their electoral defeats.