Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan on Tuesday said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the State has taken a new avatar to fight both the Dravidian majors – the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – and will “win a considerable number of seats” in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
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While interacting with journalists at The Hindu office in Chennai, Mr. Vasan admitted that it is a challenging election for all fronts, particularly the NDA. “This is not an easy election for anybody. It is a challenging election, especially for the BJP front. We have taken a new avatar, fighting against the DMK, the ruling party with money power, muscle power and government power. On the other hand, we have the AIADMK, the party which ruled the State on many occasions and proved its vote share. So when we have decided to fight both these parties, no doubt it is challenging.”
Mr. Vasan also said the BJP has grown in the State, even at the village level. He said with the support of their allies, the PMK, the AMMK, the TMC(M) and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam “who enjoys considerable clout in the southern part of the State”, the BJP-led front will be able to put up a tough fight.
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He further said though the cadre base of the DMK and the AIADMK is more than that of the NDA, the latter’s partners are working hard on the ground to match the Dravidian parties. He said, “On the ground, if about 50 cadres are working for the DMK and 45 for the AIADMK, we [NDA] have only around 25, but I am happy to see that we can still do the work of 50 cadres. That is the strength of the third front. Our cadres are going door-to-door to reach the people and tell them about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the economic growth, and safety of the country.”
Commenting on the electoral bonds issue, Mr. Vasan said, “There was one system for all the parties in India. The bonds were not only for the BJP. Naturally, whichever party is in power at the Centre would get more bonds.”
He also observed the ratio of electoral bonds received by the DMK was more than that of the BJP. “Among the regional parties, when compared to the BJP, the ratio of bonds received by DMK is high. I want to make it clear that the electoral bond scheme was introduced to create transparency. If the court feels there is no transparency in the scheme, let there be a new way. A common ground for all the parties, which will help the public to know the transparency of election funding.”