'National parties are audience in TN, our fight only with DMK': AIADMK's veiled dig at BJP

After AIADMK's General Council passed a resolution on Saturday approving Edappadi Palaniswami to be the CM candidate for the party in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, the party in a dig at its alliance partner BJP has also said that the contest is between the regional parties. The AIADMK which is attempting to be the big brother within the NDA in this year's elections also said that national parties have no role to play in the state's polls.

This comes in sharp contrast to the statement by BJP Tamil Nadu chief L Murugan, who on Saturday claimed that there is no politics in the state without the saffron party. Moreover, the hesitation of the BJP and report of its talks with the estranged brother of Stalin, MK Alagiri, has triggered infighting within the NDA partners, though both parties aren't openly admitting it. 

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AIADMK deputy coordinator KP Munusamy said, “As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, national parties do not matter because they are yet to take root here. They ride piggyback on either the AIADMK or the DMK. So, the forthcoming elections too are a direct contest between the AIADMK and DMK. The national parties are just an audience because that is what they can do here. When both Dravidian parties are engaged in the electoral battle, the national parties just keep themselves away as an audience to avoid any wounds to themselves. So, our only enemy is the DMK.”

Moreover, commenting on the early release of VK Sasikala’s, Munusamy said “There are no sleeper cells in the AIADMK anymore because the coordinator and joint coordinator are functioning in a manner that would create confidence among the cadre. No one will go out of the party now.”

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Tamil Nadu Assembly elections

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due during April-May 2021 and the political parties have started their campaign. While DMK's MK Stalin is eyeing becoming Chief Minister for the first time, AIADMK has arrived at reconciliation between two warring factions - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS). Incumbent E Palaniswamy has been named as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. The BJP is yet to make a formal announcement of the alliance with AIADMK and is in talks with Stalin's estranged brother MK Alagiri. On the other side, AIADMK has said that they are the big-brother within the NDA alliance. Meanwhile, Kamal Hassan is on a campaign trail and Alagiri has said that the launch of his political party will be in January. Superstar Rajinikanth who was about to launch his party this year has backed out due to health reasons. 

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