DMDK general secretary Premalatha has accused AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami of deceiving her party by promising a Rajya Sabha seat during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and later denying any such agreement.

Premalatha, speaking to reporters, displayed a document relating to the 2024 alliance between the AIADMK and the DMDK. Her move comes after Palaniswami had publicly denied the existence of any agreement, triggering a fresh political controversy.

The DMDK leader visited the Annamalaiyar temple in Tiruvannamalai, where she offered prayers before addressing the media. She alleged that Palaniswami had spoken beyond limits about her party and reiterated that a commitment had been made during alliance talks in 2024 to allocate one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK.

She said she had refrained from producing the document earlier out of political decency and dignity, but was compelled to do so now. Displaying the document before the deity, she urged the media to record it on video, pointing out that it carried signatures from both sides and clearly mentioned the allocation of five Lok Sabha constituencies and one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK.

Premalatha further claimed that when she had asked Palaniswami to include the year in the agreement, he had responded that such details were not mentioned even during the tenures of M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa, and had instead asked her to trust his word. She alleged that he had assured her that the Rajya Sabha seat would be given to the DMDK in 2025, but later refused when the elections approached.

She criticised Palaniswami for now claiming that no such agreement had ever been made.

The remarks come ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled for April 23. Premalatha said that in the current electoral arrangement, the DMDK, now aligned with the DMK alliance, had been assured 10 Assembly seats along with a Rajya Sabha berth.

According to her, Sudheesh has since been elected as a Rajya Sabha MP, and the party has fielded candidates in 10 constituencies and is actively campaigning.

The allocation of 10 seats to the DMDK, despite the party not winning even a single constituency for over a decade, has drawn criticism. Responding to attacks, Premalatha said that it was the DMDK that played a key role in the AIADMK coming to power in 2011, and maintained that it remains the third-largest party in Tamil Nadu.

Palaniswami had earlier criticised the DMK alliance for allocating 10 seats to a party with what he described as a marginal vote share, while long-time allies such as the VCK and Left parties were given fewer seats.

When questioned last year about allegations of promising a Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK, Palaniswami had denied ever making such a statement. Premalatha has now countered that claim by producing what she says is documentary evidence.