Tamil Nadu BJP has been given a wonderful Diwali gift in the form of Rajiv Pratap Rudy (52) by Amit Shah, the all India president of the party, feel veteran party leaders. They are unanimous in their view that Rudy is the ideal choice to navigate the Tamil Nadu BJP which has been grounded for want of a good commander. There is also a strong demand by prominent leaders of the State BJP to project Dr Subramanian Swamy as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2016 Assembly elections.
Rudy, a qualified Airbus-A320 pilot, would be able to take the Tamil Nadu BJP off the ground, according to Kattumannarkoil Kannan, a national council member. “Rudy is young and energetic. Rudy is the kind of person Tamil Nadu was waiting for,” Kannan told The Pioneer.
But he said the party needs a thorough overhaul. “Unless there is a team in place which can work in tandem with Rudy, there is no hope,” he added. Kannan said it was time BJP fielded a person like Dr Swamy as the chief ministerial candidate.
Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP is rudderless and directionless, in spite of the good will enjoyed by Narendra Modi. Even the DMK leadership was rattled by the crowd gathered for listening to Modi in the meetings addressed by him. “You cannot ignore BJP hereafter,” DMK chief Karunanidhi reportedly told other leaders of the party while he was watching the live telecast of one of the meetings addressed by Modi in the State.
But the state unit of the BJP failed miserably to capitalise on the popularity of Modi. lately it got into more trouble by courting Rajni Kant, the Karnataka born super star of Tamil movies. A section of the media floated stories projecting Rajni Kant as the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP. The State leaders who were buoyed by the media blitzkrieg endorsed the theory even as close associates of the actor were busy denying the news. “There is nothing unusual in Narendra Modi calling on Rajni Kant at the latter’s house. It was a courtesy call and there is nothing more than that,” Rajagopal, secretary, Rajani Kant Fans Association, told The Pioneer. He also pointed out that leaders of all political parties call on the super star regularly.
The truth is that Tamil Nadu BJP has no proper and effective leaders to take the party through its present day state of turbulence and turmoil. The newly appointed president Tamilisai Sounderrajan is no match either for Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi. It is like the Indian football team playing against the World Cup squad of Brazil. Past presidents of the party failed to prove their mettle all these years.
Dr Subramanian Swamy is feared by all political opponents because of his intelligence and honesty. “Most of the political leaders in Tamil Nadu fear that they would be out of their jobs once Dr Swamy enters the scene. He singlehandedly won the Mullaperiyar Dam case for Tamil Nadu. He was the one who saved Ram Setu from getting demolished. And of course Jayalalithaa had to resign following the case filed by him. Dr Swamy is the person fighting the 2G Spectrum Case,” said M R Venkatesh, the young chartered accountant and author of a series of books on black money and corruption.
Jagadish Shetty, senior BJP leader said the appointment of Rudy as in-charge of Tamil Nadu is in line with the party’s central leadership thinking to open new vistas. “This is an ideal opportunity to show that BJP is the alternative people were waiting for in Tamil Nadu. The party should go it alone in the 2016 and assert itself. The young electorate would stand solidly behind the BJP. Dr Swamy would be the ideal face of the BJP in the Dravidian heartland where both the AIADMK and the DMK are not in the best of health,” he said.