Star power was in the ascendant at the first rally addressed by BJP national President Amit Shah on the city’s outskirts on Saturday with noted Tamil film music director and popular lyricist Gangai Amaran joining the saffron party.
Amaran, brother of the music genius Ilayaraja, hails from a family with early associations with the Communist Party of India.
The BJP, which has launched a big membership drive in Tamil Nadu, hopes that Gangai Amaran would be no flash in the pan.
Choreographer Gayathri Raghuram also joined the BJP, even as speculation was rife that the actor and former DMK MP, Napoleon, would follow suit.
Napoleon wrote to DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi on Saturday, seeking to be relieved from the party membership, sources said.
If he does join the BJP, the actor is expected to bring in others from the Dravidian party.
