A crucial meeting of AIADMK office-bearers to be held at the party headquarters in Chennai on Monday will have serious discussions on further alliance with the BJP.
The meeting to be attended by party district secretaries, elected office-bearers, MPs and MLAs will have threadbare discussions on the party’s advantages and disadvantages vis a vis the BJP. AIADMK senior leader and former minister D. Jayakumar had in a press conference on September 18 announced that the party did not have any alliance with the BJP and that alliances for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be declared later. Sources in the AIADMK said that a large chunk of the party office-bearers, including district secretaries, are of the opinion that an alliance with the BJP will do more harm to the party than any good. A senior leader of the AIADMK while speaking said, “The AIADMK is primarily a Dravidian party and in many issues we felt cornered due to our alliance with the BJP. Also there is a strong Muslim vote bank in Tamil Nadu and an alliance with the BJP will fetch not a single vote from that community. Coupled with this we have to face the arrogance of BJP state president, Annamalai also. The party leaders and cadres are fed up with these developments and in today’s meet many will express their dislike. Let ‘Annan (EPS)’ take a decision on this matter.” The AIADMK office-bearers meet will be very crucial for the political formulation in Tamil Nadu in the days to come.