Chennai: After Lok Sabha deputy speaker Thambidurai, AIADMK veteran C Ponnaiyan has also expressed reservations on tying up with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections.
Ponnaiyan even invoked the late party matriarch, J Jayalalithaa, while saying the public at large are against such an alliance.
“The party will decide whether to have an alliance with other parties or contest alone like our Amma did in 2014 elections,” he said.
“The public and AIADMK cadre feel the BJP is anti-Tamil Nadu in its approach and implementation of central government policies. The example being quoted is that because of NEET, 70% of the rural population, who are socially very backward, are not able to get MBBS seats for their children,” he added.
Former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination has always been an electoral plank in the state. This time, too, the senior leader feels that the Governor and the BJP have not ensured the release of the seven convicts.
“The Supreme Court had issued an order to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. But violating the court order, the BJP government-appointed governor is yet to release the convicts. This is creating agony and hatred towards the BJP government, particularly in the minds of the youth. Around 40% of the vote bank are young people and they feel that the BJP is the worst government.”
Ponnaiyan’s vociferous attack on the BJP comes even as sources say talks between the two parties are underway.
Reacting to Ponnaiyan’s comment, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan told News18, “The AIADMK has constituted a committee to hold alliance talks. What Ponnaiyan said is his opinion and not the party’s official stance. Ponnaiyan has said this with some intention. The BJP may not have vote-bank in Tamil Nadu, but has enough vote-bank to sweep the Lok Sabha elections.”
Comments
0 comment