The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost a key ally in Tamil Nadu on Monday when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) snapped its ties with the ruling party at the Centre. This came as a jolt to the BJP, just months before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as key state assembly elections preceding that.
Speaking about the development, AIADMK leader Kovai Sathyan said that it is the saffron party which needs the AIADMK and not the other way round. “It’s the BJP which needs AIADMK and it’s not AIADMK that needs BJP as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned,” Sathyan said.
“For the sanctity of the alliance we maintained the status quo. But K Annamalai turned out to be a rabble-rouser. He started commenting on our leaders and founders. He started criticising our ideology,” he added. Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, the most popular face of the BJP in the state, who was projected to be the focal point of this separation, shied away from speaking on this breakup.
“Now Yatra is going on and I read the press statement given by them (AIADMK) and regarding this. Our national leadership will speak at the right time. I thank all the media persons. We have a protocol and our national leadership will speak at the right time,” Annamalai said while he was participating in the En Mann En Makkal Yatra in the state. While the snapping of ties between the two parties in Tamil Nadu may be seen as a blow to the BJP, several political leaders from the state maintained that it is only a temporary separation.
