Meeting shows BJP is keeping all channels open in Tamil Nadu ahead of general elections but also that for party, EPS is the main leader of fractured AIADMK.
New Delhi: In Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday, the BJP has attempted to send out a message that it is keeping all channels open in the complex and fragmented politics of the southern state.
The BJP has also indicated that despite factionalism in Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK, it is the CM who the party considers as the main leader.
EPS, as the chief minister is popularly known, met Modi Monday and demanded a Bharat Ratna for late Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa. However, sources in the BJP say the idea behind the meeting was for the party to show how it is “keeping channels open with all stakeholders in Tamil Nadu” — the ruling AIADMK as well as the opposition DMK — ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Given Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats, a significant chunk, the BJP would want to get its alliances right in the state so it can compensate for any deficits it faces in its terrains it gained heavily in during the 2014 elections.
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Modi’s message
The AIADMK’s internal politics has been frayed, with EPS, deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and ousted leader TTV Dinakaran all claiming a share of the pie. However, by not granting an audience to OPS in the recent past, or meeting Dinakaran at all, Modi has attempted to convey it is “EPS whom the BJP considers as the AIADMK boss”.
Two days ago, OPS’ revelation that he had held a meeting with Dinakaran last year without informing his party triggered a storm in the state’s politics, with many questioning whether it was an attempt to topple the EPS-led government.
“Given the inherent internal contradictions within the AIADMK, the PM meeting EPS was also a way to show it is him whom the BJP will deal with,” a BJP source said.
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Meanwhile, Modi has also kept his relationship with the DMK cordial. Last November, the PM had made an unscheduled stop at the residence of former Tamil Nadu CM and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi to enquire about his health, meeting both the veteran leader and his son M.K. Stalin. Modi was in the state to attend some events.
The PM also attended Karunanidhi’s funeral in August and paid him tributes with as many as four tweets.
Taking charge as DMK supremo in August-end, Stalin adopted a belligerent line on the BJP, saying his party would teach a lesson to the Modi government. However, on Modi’s birthday on 17 September, the DMK leader was prompt to wish him on Twitter, even though AIADMK leaders desisted.
Today, no politician can be trusted to uphold India’s widely proclaimed belief SATYAM EVA JAYATE.
They all keep their cards close to their chests. They all wait to see which way the wind blows.
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