BJP distances itself from Maneka letter to Jayalalithaa

BJP national secretary Muralidhar Rao said in Chennai on Monday that the party’s opposition to the AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu "is not diluted" by Maneka Gandhi's letter to Jayalalithaa. File photo: M. Murali

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday distanced itself from the letter written by Union Minister Maneka Gandhi to AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa expressing moral support and a wish that the latter would soon be back at the helm of administration in Tamil Nadu.

The letter reportedly caused a churning in the State BJP, which has been positioning itself as an alternative to the AIADMK and the DMK.

On Monday, BJP national general secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge, B. Muralidhar Rao, told reporters that the letter should not be seen as a policy statement from the party.

“I understand the implication of the letter. But let me make it clear that someone writing a letter should not be seen as a policy statement of the party and an attempt to influence the courts in this case,” he said.

Ms. Gandhi may have personal faith that Ms. Jayalalithaa was innocent, which was expressed through the letter, he said.

“Our opposition to the government of AIADMK under the leadership of Ms. Jayalalithaa is no way diluted [by the letter] in Tamil Nadu. When we say the BJP wants to focus and capture power in South, it does not exclude Tamil Nadu,” he asserted.

On whether actor Rajinikanth, who the party has been trying to woo, writing a letter to Ms. Jayalalithaa was a setback to the BJP, Mr. Rao said the party had never said the superstar would join it on a particular date.

“There is an interaction. He has always expressed good things for us,” he said, adding that “good people” joining the BJP in Tamil Nadu in the near future was certain.

Jaya replies to Rajini, Maneka

Meanwhile, Ms. Jayalalithaa on Monday replied to letters written by Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Rajinikanth.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said Ms. Gandhi’s letter had touched her deeply. “I was especially moved by the fact that, despite your busy schedule as Union Minister, you found the time to think of me and send your heartwarming missive.”

Thanking Mr. Rajinikanth for the kind and gracious sentiments expressed in his letter, the AIADMK chief blessed him with long life, good health, prosperity and success in all his activities.