nTamil Nadu BJP is on the verge of an explosion as senior leaders are speaking of a massive exodus from the party. Things have reached a point of no return and the national leadership has summoned some of the senior leaders like SV Sekhar to New Delhi for consultations.
Pon Radhakrishnan, former Union Minister of State for Surface Transport who lost his seat from Kanyakumari in the April 2019 election and his followers are being portrayed as the villains by senior leaders who have been with the BJP since the day it was formed.
What brought things to an explosive level is the admission of Sasikala Pushpa Ramaswamy, the sensational and controversial AIADMK member of parliament to the BJP. Sasikala Pushpa, who has been ousted from the AIADMK by no less a person than former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for bringing disrepute to that party is being seen in Tamil Nadu politics as an untouchable entity for her personal life about which the yellow press in the State had a field day during 2015 and 2016.
The MP was in the news in 2018 when she divorced Lingeswaran, her husband for 24 years and married Ramaswamy, another controversial person. “It seems Tamil Nadu BJP has become a haven for item girls of Tamil cinemas and other political parties,” said Uma Anandhan, a senior leader in Tamil Nadu BJP. Though she refused to elaborate further , it was possible that she was referring to Namita, a popular item dance actress in Tamil films, joining the BJP.
Though many leaders declined to come out and react to the latest developments, political commentators like Govindarajan Satyamurty and Sam Rajappa were of the view that Tamil Nadu’s rendezvous with a Third alternative may take some more time.
“There was a time in 2014 when people were of the view that the BJP may emerge as an alternative to the AIADMK and the DMK. Not any more. With people like Pon Radhakrishnan at the helm of affairs, it is sure that BJP would not make any impact in Tamil Nadu politics,” said Satyamurthy.
It is alleged by a section of the leadership that Pon Radhakrishnan and P Muraleedhar Rao (the central observer ) are responsible for the present state of affairs. “Rao’s infatuation with the glittering stars of Kodambakkam has damaged the prospectus of the BJP,” said a senior leader.
Uma was blunt in her statement: “If they feel that the BJP in Tamil Nadu could be run only by leaders from other parties so be it. We will look out for other alternatives,” she said.
Though the BJP is weak in Tamil Nadu, there has been no dearth of groupism in the party. Recently , a woman involved in a murder case was admitted to the party-based on the recommendation made by the mining baron of south India.