The issue of the sustainability of the AIADMK’s ties with the BJP is coming to the fore, even as key functionaries of the ruling party are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the factors that contributed to its poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly byelections.
“I cannot tell you today whether we will continue to have an alliance with the BJP for the local body elections. However, as of date, we are allies,” Fisheries Minister and the party’s organising secretary, D. Jayakumar, told The Hindu on Tuesday.
The party leadership would take a call on the alliance at “an appropriate time”, the Minister said.
The State president of the BJP, Tamilisai Soundararajan, echoed a similar view. “There is no doubt that we – the BJP and the AIADMK – are friends. A representative of my party even took part in an Iftar hosted by the AIADMK. At the same time, we are taking steps independently to strengthen our party,” she explained.
“Only when the notification is issued for the local body polls will we take a decision on the alliance,” the BJP leader said.
In Villupuram district, Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam recently spoke openly about the impact of the AIADMK-BJP relationship on the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls. He said the ruling party’s defeat in the polls was not just due to its tie-up with the BJP but also due to the latter’s ‘failure’ to counter “false propaganda” unleashed by the Opposition and sections of the media against the Central government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He acknowledged that his party could not get the “full support” of minorities.
‘No blame game’
Endorsing Mr. Shanmugam’s analysis of the reasons for the electoral setback, BJP spokesperson T. Narayanan said it was not “fair and proper” to portray the Law Minister as having indulged in a blame game.
Notwithstanding the question of the continuance of the alliance, two senior Ministers – P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani – met Home Affairs Minister and the BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, in New Delhi on Tuesday. A day earlier, they met Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who has been functioning as the point-person of the BJP in Delhi on issues concerning its alliance in Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Thangamani said that while he and his colleague had flagged the issue of the sanctioning of funds for the State with Mr. Goyal, the meeting with Mr. Shah was “purely a courtesy call”.
Mr. Narayanan said there was nothing wrong in the Ministers meeting Mr. Goyal to explain to him the problems facing the State, considering the latter’s position.
