Stalin's son-in-law Sabarisan says he accepts people's verdict

Sabarisan Vedamurthy, DMK president M K Stalins son-in-law, and founder of a consultancy firm that devised a strategy for the party in the just concluded Assembly polls, has said that he accepts peoples verdict humbly. Vedamurthy, the founder of PEN, a socio-political research organisation, which helped DMK in devising poll strategy, said he will continue to work hard and move forward.

Sabarisan Vedamurthy, DMK president M K Stalin's son-in-law, and founder of a consultancy firm that devised a strategy for the party in the just concluded Assembly polls, has said that he accepts people's verdict humbly. Vedamurthy, the founder of PEN, a socio-political research organisation, which helped DMK in devising poll strategy, said he will continue to work hard and move forward. In a statement, the top PEN leader said oversimplifying the election result into a single narrative will not reflect reality and hinted that he was, however not averse to accepting blame to whatever extent his role may have extended in formalising the poll strategy. He said: ''I accept the people's verdict simply and humbly. While I wish to extol Team PEN's hard work and sincerity, I am fully willing to accept any role I may have played in contributing to the electoral outcome. I will continue to work hard with responsibility, humility, and a stronger understanding of the public's expectations, moving forward.'' Furthermore, he said: ''Over the past few days, I have noticed several attempts to place significant responsibility for the recent electoral outcome on PEN and its functioning. While criticism and public scrutiny are natural in a democracy and are indeed welcome, oversimplifying a large political outcome into one narrative is not useful, because it simply does not reflect reality.'' Vedamurthy said DMK chief Stalin had demonstrated what it meant to face the people's verdict with grace and courage, and the Populus Empowerment Network (PEN) respects the people's verdict with humility. ''However, we humbly request all stakeholders to avoid misinformation, personal targeting, and unverified narratives that distract from healthy democratic discussion,'' the research organisation requested. Vedamurthy is the founder of PEN, which conducts studies on politics and public opinion to support better decision-making and informed policymaking. The statement follows speculation and accusations targeting PEN-- for the DMK's defeat-- after the results of the TN Assembly polls were out on May 4. In the 234-member Assembly, the TVK won 108 seats and the DMK managed to win only 59 seats. AIADMK won 47 seats, Congress 5, PMK 4, IUML and the Left parties 2 each.