Chennai: At a time when the ruling AIADMK has been asserting that Chief Minister Edpppadi K Palaniswami is the CM candidate for the ensuring Assembly polls, its ally, the BJP today said the NDA coordination committee would take a final call on the CM.
Addressing press conference in the presence of BJP Tamilnadu president L Murugan after a meeting of organisers of Assembly constituencies and in-charges at a marriage hall here, BJP national secretary and Tamilnadu in-charge C T Ravi said once the NDA comes to power in Tamilnadu, the NDA co-ordination Committee will take final decision about the Chief Minister.
While asserting that its relationship with its alliance friends were open and cordial, he said the seat sharing will be finalised once the elections were announced.
“Our relationship with all our alliance friends has been open and cordial,” he said, adding, the BJP’s highest decision making body, the Parliamentary Board will take the necessary decision as and when the situation demands.
Ravi’s remarks comes at a time when senior leader and AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy, during the launch of party’s election campaign, had bluntly told BJP that there was no question of sharing power or Cabinet berths if the AIADMK-led Front wins the polls and retained power for a third time.
Taking potshots at National parties often blaming the Dravidian parties–AIADMK and the DMK–of ruining the country and the State, Munuswamy in a fiery attack and a veiled reference to the BJP, said it has to accept Mr Palaniswami as the CM candidate and should not demand a share in power or else the saffron party should rethink its options.
Referring to the deaths of two tall leaders AIADMK’s J Jayalalithaa and DMK’s M Karunanidhi, he said in the absence of the top leaders ‘several’ parties were now trying to make a political entry into Tamilnadu and succeed.
Some National parties, ‘opportunists, betrayers and a crowd’ were blaming the Dravidian outfits, alleging that they have ruined the State during the last 50 years.