AIADMK will lead alliance, says TN CM Palaniswami, ahead of 2021 polls

 AIADMK co- coordinator and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Friday asserted that his party will lead the alliance in "any polls" within the state and pointed out that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were fought under his leadership.

Hours after telling reporters in Tiruvarur that electoral alliances would be decided only during the polls, he told the media in Thanjavur that right from the days of party founder, the late chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR), the AIADMK had led the respective alliance.

The debate surrounding who will lead their alliance in the 2021 Assembly elections has been on after a BJP leader had recently asserted that his party has the right to steer the combine in the hustings next year, following the altered political landscape in the state.

"Whether during the days of MGR or Amma (the late CM J Jayalalithaa), assembly polls or lok sabha elections, they have been faced under the leadership of the AIADMK," the chief minister told reporters in Thanjavur.

"That will continue (for 2021)... (the alliance) was in last year's Lok Sabha election led by the AIADMK. So whichever elections, AIADMK will only head the alliance," added K Palaniswamy.

The AIADMK led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 polls, and the constituents included the BJP, PMK and DMDK.

Earlier in the day, Palaniswami had said at Tiruvarur that electoral alliances would be decided only during the polls, days after state BJP vice president V P Duraisamy had asserted his party has the right to lead the combine in the 2021 state assembly elections.

The party that shall head the alliance would be made known only during the elections and polls were not round the corner now, the chief minister said when asked if the BJP or AIADMK would steward the combine in Tamil Nadu to fight the polls next year.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the district, Palaniswami said the parties that constitute the alliance have not been firmed up yet, be it in the AIADMK or the DMK camp.

"Hence, only during the run up to the elections, alliances will be decided," he said.

Duraisamy, who recently joined the BJP from the DMK, on August 12 had claimed the saffron party's growth has altered the political landscape in the state.

The assembly elections due next year would, hence, be a fight between his party and DMK, under a "BJP-led alliance," he had said.

According to him, being a national party, the BJP had the right to lead the alliance in assembly polls.

Making light of Duraisamy's claim, the AIADMK had said such views, if aired by the BJP's state unit president L Murugan, would have weight. 

(Image Credits:PTI)