The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) will contest the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Disclosing this to reporters in Tiruchi on Monday, AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran said his party had extended “unconditional support” to the BJP. There was no issue with regard to seat sharing as the BJP already knew the AMMK’s requirement, Mr. Dhinakaran said and added that he had been in touch with the State and national-level office bearers of the BJP over the past two or three months.
The main issue in the Lok Sabha election is who should become the Prime Minister. The AMMK would work like a “squirrel” to help the BJP alliance bag more seats in Tamil Nadu.
There was no pressure on his party to contest on the BJP’s lotus symbol, Mr. Dhinakaran maintained, and termed such reports “lies” and “rumours”. The AMMK was a regional party and cooker symbol had been allotted to it by the Election Commission. The AMMK would contest on its own symbol, he said.
Though former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had announced that the AIADMK would not have any truck with the BJP in 1999, she aligned with the party in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The AMMK was carrying forward the principles of “Amma”, he maintained, and added that the party had decided to go with the BJP taking into consideration the present circumstances and requirements of Tamil Nadu.
Answering a query, Mr. Dhinakaran said he was yet to decide on whether to contest the election.
