Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai reportedly said in a meeting on Friday, March 17, that the party wouldn’t join hands with any of the Dravidian parties in any election. He was speaking at a meeting with BJP functionaries in Chennai’s Aminjakarai, days after unrest surfaced between the BJP and AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). Tension has been brewing between the parties ever since BJP’s Tamil Nadu IT wing head CT Nirmala Kumar quit and joined the AIADMK
In the meeting, Annamalai reportedly stated that the party will grow if it stands alone in Tamil Nadu. He also said that BJP doesn't want to face the polls with the support of any Dravidian party in the upcoming elections. He further added that he would resign as State President of the party and continue as a party cadre if the party decides to forge any political alliance in Tamil Nadu. Annamalai also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding this.
It is to be noted that earlier this week, Annamalai reportedly said that the AIADMK is a senior party in NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and assured that BJP's alliance with AIADMK is intact.
As per reports, during the meeting, many BJP functionaries including Vanathi Srinivasan, Coimbatore South MLA and National President of the BJP Mahila Morcha, and the party’s state Vice President Narayanan Tirupati attempted to get clarity from the party chief on his stance. Narayanan reportedly asked Annamalai to give an explanation for his speech, while Vanathi questioned what the reason was to discuss this in the party’s state-level executive meeting instead of bringing it to the Central Committee’s notice.
This unusual situation has prevailed in the alliance lately after many functionaries quit the BJP and joined AIADMK. Earlier this month, 13 members from the BJP’s Tamil Nadu IT cell had quit, in a sudden jolt to the saffron party. The national leadership soon began damage control with party President JP Nadda and General Secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, CT Ravi, initiating discussions with AIADMK's interim General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.