Tamil Nadu BJP on Friday gave enough hints of an alliance with film actor-turned politician Rajinikanth for the forthcoming lok Sabha election which may take place sometime in April-May 2019.
Tamilisai Sounderarajan, president of Tamil Nadu BJP lambasted DMK working president MK Stalin for lampooning Rajnikanth for the latter’s justification of the proposed State-of-the-art eight-lane-express highway connecting Chennai and Salem.
Rajinikanth had come out in support of the Chennai-Salem expressway to be built at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore. This infuriated the DMK working president who questioned on Thursday Rajinikanth’s locus standi to make comments on such issues.
Though the actor remained incommunicado to the innuendos fired at him by Stalin, Sounderarajan took the cudgels on behalf of him and came out openly questioning the DMK leader’s capability to attack the former. “Rajinikanth is a public figure though he might not have conrsted any election. He has equal rights as Stalin to make observations on any issues of importance,” she told reporters on Friday.
Though the BJP leader parried questions on alliance with Rajinikanth, it was clear from the word go that she was batting for Rajinikanth. Tamilisai Sounderarajan also questioned Stalin on his double standard over the Cauvery River issue.
“The DMK and Stalin were part of the UPA dispensation at the Centre rom 2004 to 2013. Did they do anything to get the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal Award gazetted or implementedIJ The Cauvery Water Management Authority was constituted by the NDA Government in 2018 though the CWDT had ordered in 2007 itself to constitute such a body. The then UPA Government led by the Congress did not do anything to constitute the CMA for seven years,” said Tamilissai Sounderarajan.
She also questioned the DMK in its approach to the Governor of the State against whom the Dravidian major and other fringe parties had declared a kind of war waving black flags whenever he sets his foot outside the Raj Bhavan. “The DMK is meeting the Governor on Monday to submit a memorandum listing allegations against the ruling AIADMK. On the one hand, they are criticising the Governor for touring the State while they themselves want him to play politics from Raj Bhavan,” she said.
The BJP is in search of alliance partners to fight the 2019 lok Sabha election as it has no major parties on its side in Tamil Nadu.
The PMK, BJP’s ally during the 2014 election has declared early this week that it would not have any truck with the Hindutwa party.