AIADMK cadre broke into celebrations by bursting crackers at the party headquarters in Chennai on Monday after the party formally decided to quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. In contrast, the reaction of its estranged alliance partner was subdued.
The top brass of the Tamil Nadu BJP was in Coimbatore for State president K. Annamalai’s ‘En Mann En Makkal’ Yatra when the AIADMK made the announcement. Mr. Annamalai, while addressing the media in the presence of senior leaders Vanathi Srinivasan and L. Murugan, said the party’s national leadership would comment on the development at an appropriate time.
Mr Annamalai said he and others had read the resolution passed by the AIADMK. However, the BJP was a national party, and there was a procedure for everything. “We [the State leadership] will also talk when we meet the media in the future,” he said.
Social media was abuzz with many BJP supporters welcoming the decision and asserting that it will help the party grow. A television channel reported that a group of BJP cadre celebrated the AIADMK’s decision in Tirunelveli district.
The BJP leadership in the State was guarded in its response. Some party spokespersons chose to comment soon after the development, stating that the AIADMK’s decision was unfortunate as they wanted like-minded parties to be united in their opposition to the DMK. However, following Mr. Annamalai’s statement that the national leadership would respond, the commentators also toed the line.
Vinoj P. Selvam, one of the State secretaries of the party, while speaking on a television channel, said the Tamil Nadu unit would wait for directions from the national leadership, but it was prepared to take on the challenge if it had to face the election without the AIADMK. He, however, later posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that he regretted the views he had expressed, and apologised.
Amar Prasad Reddy, State president, Sports and Skill Development Cell of the party, initially responded to the AIADMK’s decision on X by saying, “Congratulations. Do not come back.” However, in another post, he apologised and said he had deleted the earlier post, on the advice of Mr. Annamalai.
A senior party leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they were awaiting a signal from the national leadership. The leader said that if this was indeed seen by the national leadership as the end of the alliance for the 2024 election, the party would try to ensure that other NDA members do not move towards the AIADMK, besides pulling more parties towards it.
TMC leader G.K. Vasan said, “We are in an alliance and are friendly with both the AIADMK and the BJP. At the time of the election, an appropriate decision would be taken in accordance with the views of the party cadre and leaders, keeping in mind the interest of the country and the State.” “I think this is also a time to strengthen the TMC,” he added.
