Amid power struggle in the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the BJP – that played an active role in the merger of the two rival factions of the ruling party – admitted that three AIADMK leaders, including a former minister Nainar Nagendran, joined the party in presence of party President Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday.
Former Vellore Mayor Karthiyaayini and former Arcot MLA Sreenivasan also joined the BJP. Nagendran who hails from the politically powerful Thevar community was minister for electricity and industries in Jayalalithaa’s cabinet during 2001-06. Even though he won from Tirunelveli constituency in 2011-16, he was not inducted into the Cabinet. The admission of AIADMK leaders into the BJP comes at a time when the ruling party in TN was expected join Narendra Modi cabinet.
A BJP leader from TN said the AIADMK leaders joining the party were beginning an exercise to bring in leaders from Dravidian parties to strengthen the party in the state. “To expand the party base in the state, we need leaders who can get more visibility for the party to reach the masses,” the leader said, adding that more leaders from Dravidian parties, particularly AIADMK, would join the BJP. “We are going ahead with our campaign to strengthen the party even if there is a possibility of AIADMK joining the NDA,” the leader noted.
BJP has a limited presence in Tamil Nadu and restricted to Kanyakumari in southern Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore and Tirupur districts in the western part of the state. BJP is targeting numerically strong Nadar and Thevar vote base in Southern districts while it wants to eat more into AIADMK’s Gounders vote bank in Western Tamil Nadu.
“There is a possibility of Puthiya Tamiligam, a Dalit party which enjoys the support of Pallar community in Southern districts joining our alliance,” a BJP leader said. Political analyst Gnani said it is an attempt by the BJP to show to the people that the party has emerged as an alternative in Tamil Nadu. “It is a kind of image building exercise for the BJP with leaders from the ruling AIADMK joining it,” he said.
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