Even as the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) reiterated its stand to field its candidate in Puducherry, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday reaffirmed that all alliance partners of National Democratic Alliance would support the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) candidate R. Radhakrishnan. But, the rift between PMK and BJP over this issue persists.
In a show of strength, the front line leaders of the BJP led by its territorial president M. Visweswaran met Chief Minister N. Rangasamy at the AINRC office and offered the party’s support to Mr. Radhakrishnan. They held a discussion about the strategy to be followed to carry forward the agenda of campaign.
Later, in a joint press meet with Mr. Rangasamy, Mr. Visweswaran said that the BJP national president Rajnath Singh had already announced that the Puducherry seat had been allotted to AINRC in the NDA alliance. There was absolutely no dispute in it. It meant that all alliance partners would support the AINRC candidate.
When the insistence of PMK candidature in Puducherry was pointed out, Mr. Visweswaran said he had appealed to the PMK to withdraw from the race so as to put a united show to make Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. The BJP would take steps to solve the issue.
Asked whether he would meet the PMK leaders [Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss] to break the impasse, Mr. Rangasamy said that he would meet all the leaders of NDA soon. Meanwhile PMK leaders close to the party high command claimed that the announcement of a candidate for the lone seat in the UT was done with the concurrence of the BJP central leadership.
