BJP Central Leadership in Hectic Parleys with AIADMK through Mediators

Shocked by AIADMK's breaking away, the central leadership of the BJP is trying to mend fences with the Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma leading the mediation talks.

Sources in the central BJP leadership told IANS that certain other people from Tamil Nadu, who are close to the national leadership of BJP at a personal level, are also being roped in for the mediatory talks.

AIADMK is a powerful political entity of Tamil Nadu with a strong vote bank across the state. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the party won 66 seats with the rival DMK winning 133 seats and thus forming the government in the state. While DMK secured 37.7 per cent of votes, AIADMK also garnered 33.29 per cent votes.

AIADMK fought the 2021 Assembly elections braving an anti-incumbency of 10 years in office and without a leader of the stature of Dr.J. Jayalalithaa. This is a clear indicator that the party is not a spent force in Tamil Nadu.

The statement of the BJP state president, K. Annamalai, against the iconic Dravidian leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Late C.N. Annadurai was the trigger for the AIADMK to call it quits from the BJP alliance.

Sources in the BJP told IANS that the central high command was willing for any compromise as they did not expect the AIADMK to make such an announcement even though the BJP state president has been at loggerheads with the AIADMK leadership.

The BJP, which lost Karnataka and may not do very well in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, was expecting to piggyride AIADMK’s popularity and to win a few seats. However with the advent of Annamalai, the central leadership was of the expectation that he was cultivating a sizeable vote bank for the saffron party due to his aggressive positions.

Sources in the central leadership of the BJP told IANS that Himanta Biswa Sarma and a religious pontiff from Tamil Nadu were also getting involved in the mediatory talks with the AIADMK leadership.

A senior leader of the national leadership of the BJP while speaking to IANS said, “AIADMK is a very crucial political party in Tamil Nadu for the BJP. You can't expect to win a state or rather do well in a state without a proper plan and the BJP had a plan and a road map and was expecting a good number of seats through the good offices of AIADMK. However, everything has gone tipsy-turvy and now we have to somehow mend this difference.”

It has, however, to be seen whether the AIADMK will budge to the outreach by the central leadership of the BJP. The AIADMK has already received tremendous support from across Tamil Nadu following its decision to snap ties with the saffron party.