Even as the stalemate in the merger talks between the two warring factions of the AIADMK is continuing, Tamil Nadu is witnessing a rare political spectacle. The BJP, which managed to win 2.8 per cent of popular votes in the 2016 Assembly election has emerged as the favourite whipping boy of all major political parties in the State for the internecine fight in the ruling AIADMK.
Whether it be the DMK, the Congress, the lefts, the VCK or the Islamist parties, all are blaming the BJP for the factional war between the
O Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy camps. The State leadership of the BJP is perplexed and surprised over the new found aggressiveness in the attack against the party by these political outfits.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, the State chief of the BJP, is forced to issue statements after statements on a daily basis to make her party clear of all controversies. “How can these parties blame the BJP for the problems in the AIADMKIJ They are targeting the BJP for the income tax raids held in the houses of Minister Vijaya Bhaskar, his friends and business associates. Raids are happening all over the country and how come BJP is being blamed for the same,” asked Soundar-
arajan while speaking to reporters on Friday
Vanathi Sreenivasan, State general secretary, BJP, said the DMK’s aggressiveness is because of a fear psychosis. “The DMK leadership is upset over the inroads made by the BJP in Tamil Nadu over the last two years. MK Stalin, the working president of the DMK is charging that the BJP is trying to impose Hindi over non-Hindi speaking States which is a blatant lie,” said Sreenivasan.
The arrest of TTV Dinakaran, the deputy general secretary of the AIADMK, who is also the de facto chief of the party in the absence of his jailed aunt VK Sasikala, the party general secretary, has come in handy for parties which are piggy-riding the DMK. Though Dinakaran has been held over charges of hawala transactions and attempts to bribe the officials of the Election Commission of India to get the ‘Two leaves’ symbol for his faction of the AIADMK, the Congress, the lefts and the VCK allege that the Hindutwa party is out to disintegrate the AIADMK so that it could get a foothold in Tamil Nadu.
What has upset these parties is the goodwill between the AIADMK and the BJP. The presence of Union Minister M Venkiah Naidu during the final hours of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the smooth transition of power was seen as a sign of goodwill between the Centre and the State which was unthinkable during the days of Congress rule.
Barring Anwar Raja, the Ramanathapuram MP, nobody in the AIADMK has criticised the BJP. The AIADMK leadership is following the dictum issued by late MG Ramachandran, the founder of the party, to the cadre that at no point of time should fight with the party ruling the Centre.
Though there were strong reports during the 2014 lok Sabha election and 2016 Assembly election that the AIADMK would forge an alliance with the BJP, there was no such tie-up. Whether the BJP would form an alliance with the AIADMK or it would cobble up a front with old friends like the PMK is not known.