Madurai (Tamil Nadu), Aug 1 (PTI) BJP Tamil Nadu Chief Nainar Nagenthiran on Friday claimed he wasn’t aware of the exact reason why former chief minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam walked out of the NDA alliance.
Playing down Panneerselvam’s July 31 announcement on severing ties with the BJP-led alliance, Nagenthiran said it was not clear why he had made such a decision.
If it had anything to do with not being able to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then he was willing to arrange the meeting. “Had Panneerselvam requested me, I would have arranged the meeting,” Nagendran told reporters here.
“We were in touch during the Assembly session and even over phone. I don’t know if he has personal problems or some other issue. I spoke to him over phone before the announcement was made and even requested him and T T V Dhinakaran (another ally) not to take any drastic decision,” the BJP chief said.
Asked about Panneerselvam regretting that he could not meet the Prime Minister during the latter’s visit to Tamil Nadu on July 27, Nagenthiran replied, “I don’t know about it. Had I been told then, I would have arranged for the meeting between them.” He denied that Panneerselvam walked out of the alliance due to pressure exerted by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on the BJP.
To another question, he replied, “I don’t know why he called on the chief minister. Maybe he met to discuss issues concerning his constituency or for personal reasons. Anyone can meet the chief minister, even I can.” Hours after the expelled AIADMK leader met Stalin during his morning walk, Panruti S Ramachandran, a senior politician and advisor to Panneerselvam’s AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee, announced that the faction would break the alliance with the NDA. “For the present, there’s no alliance with any party. We will take a call on alliance as the election approaches,” he told reporters in Chennai. PTI JSP ADB
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