BJP state president K Annamalai, on his way to call on EPS’s rival O Panneerselvam, said he didn’t care about the exits from the party. He said he was a strong leader like late chief ministers M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa and errant partymen left because of his tough action.
Switching sides
The exodus from the BJP to the AIADMK began a couple of days ago with IT wing chief C T Nirmal Kumar changing sides. On Tuesday, more than 100 AIADMK cadres joined the BJP in Madurai in Annamalai’s presence.
But more BJP men too joined the EPS camp. A total of 13 BJP functionaries from the party’s IT wing in Chennai West quit the party on Wednesday to join its alliance partner AIADMK.
“We are not on a poaching drive. It reflects the party’s growth,” former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar told TOI. AIADMK sources said more BJP cadres would join their party soon.
Are these developments part of some early political strategising ahead of the Lok Sabha elections? Or are they the fallout of feuding in the BJP? They are causing a flutter as in the runup to the Erode East byelection, Annamalai had played peacemaker, trying to bring both AIADMK factions together.
As more former and serving BJP functionaries on Tuesday joined the AIADMK in the presence of party interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, the first signs of strains in the AIADMK-BJP alliance surfaced.
In the afternoon, more than 75 men and 42 women cadres of the AIADMK joined the BJP in the presence of BJP state unit president K Annamalai, who was in Madurai on a day’s visit. Meanwhile, four BJP cadres from Kovilpatti were arrested after they organised a protest and set fire to photographs of Palaniswami.
In Chennai, BJP Tamil Nadu Intellectual wing former state secretary S V Krishnan, IT wing former state secretary P Dileep Kannan, OBC wing state secretary Jothi and Trichy Rural district vice-president Vijay called on Palaniswami, a day after BJP IT Wing state president CTR Nirmal Kumar quit the national party and joined hands with EPS.
“Individuals join the AIADMK because they like its principles and the fact that the party is a strong force in the state. We are not on a poaching drive. It reflects the party’s growth,” former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar told TOI. As sources indicated that more BJP partymen are expected to join the AIADMK shortly, the camaraderie between the allies have come under severe strain.
Condemning the functionaries switching sides, the BJP cadres staged a protest and burned the photographs of Palaniswami at Inammaniyachi bus stand in Kovilpatti. Earlier, posters condemning AIADMK and EPS popped up in several parts of the town.
Watch Rift grows between AIADMK and BJP as leaders, workers switch sides
source
The post is published through a syndicated feed and attributed to Times Of India
