Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s massive election rally on January 23, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal, who is also the Tamil Nadu in-charge for the upcoming Assembly elections, will arrive in Chennai on January 21 to finalise the alliance strategy and sign the seat-sharing pact with NDA allies.
BJP sources said that Goyal will arrive on Wednesday and meet AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami to hold discussions on further strengthening the NDA, headed by the AIADMK, to face the Assembly polls.
Later, he is expected to meet other prospective allies who are ready to join the NDA and hold seat-sharing talks with them.
On January 22, on the eve of Prime Minister Modi’s poll rally at Madurantakam, about 110 km from Chennai, the seat-sharing agreement will be formally signed with the alliance partners. All NDA leaders will be present on the stage during the Prime Minister’s public meeting, where they will be introduced to the electorate.
The AIADMK has already initiated seat-sharing talks with the BJP, with which it recently revived its electoral ties. The proposed meeting with Piyush Goyal, along with BJP State unit president Nainar Nagendran and other senior leaders, is expected to give final shape to the number of seats to be contested by the allies in the 234-member Assembly.
The AIADMK has already finalised a seat-sharing agreement with the PMK faction headed by its president Anbumani Ramadoss. According to reliable reports, the OBC-Vanniyar-dominated party, which has a considerable vote base in the northern districts, has been assured 17 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha seat.
With the PMK vertically split due to a leadership row between the father-son duo, the AIADMK is also keen to rope in PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss. Efforts are also on to bring back former NDA partners and ousted AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran.
Though both had earlier stated that their return to the NDA was unlikely — with Panneerselvam claiming he was sidelined by the BJP and Dhinakaran asserting that he would not return as long as Palaniswami remained the Chief Ministerial face — recent developments indicate a possible change in stance.
While Panneerselvam is keeping his options open and has announced that he will reveal his alliance decision in two days, Dhinakaran, who was earlier an acerbic critic of Palaniswami, has recently toned down his criticism.
Dhinakaran’s return to the NDA appeared imminent after he met Union Home Minister and BJP’s chief election strategist Amit Shah in New Delhi, during which he reportedly agreed to rejoin the front.
The meeting assumed significance as it took place two days after Palaniswami also met Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss the prevailing political situation in Tamil Nadu. While Palaniswami categorically ruled out the re-induction of expelled leaders O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala into the AIADMK, he remained non-committal on Dhinakaran.