A swift, unexpected attack against an ally BJP Senior AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan was representative of the recent churning within the Tamil Nadu party over its ties with the Delhi-centric BJP. With DMK leader and Chief Minister MK Stalin consolidating his position, there are increasing voices within the AIADMK on the need to position itself as a separate entity within the alliance – especially when the DMK is reeling from the escalating tensions between the state and the AIADMK. Taking advantage. Narendra ModiLeadership Center.
AIADMK has come under the influence of BJP after the death of supremo J Jayalalithaa. While his stature has made him a key partner in any alliance, the BJP has used his absence to make quiet inroads into Tamil Nadu by riding on a weak and divided AIADMK.
while addressing party workers on Tuesday and was talking later Indian ExpressAIADMK veteran and the party’s organizational secretary, Ponnaiyan accused the BJP-led Center of “stealing” the state’s revenue and “anti-Tamil” policies, and blamed it for the AIADMK’s electoral defeat and alienating minority voters. ordained. from party.
Ponnaiyan said he was only raising what others felt, and the AIADMK needed to assert itself while there was still time to prepare the workers for the 2024 elections. “The party’s closed-door meeting is being held across the state. We have feedback from general cadres.
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But asked if this means that the AIADMK will break ties with the BJP, Ponnaiyan said: “We will decide it at the right time.”
Several AIADMK leaders told The Indian Express that Ponnaiyan’s statements were in line with the party’s formal decision to overcome an “existential crisis”. In the meetings, leaders have reprimanded top AIADMK leaders for being “passive”, while the BJP “rises on our shoulders”.
The leaders said that apart from ties with the BJP, there is huge discontent among party workers over the “apathy” and “negligence” of the AIADMK leadership to play its role as the main opposition. Many pointed out how the relatively novice state president of the BJP, K Annamalai, has emerged as the main opposition face because of his high visibility on Tamil Nadu issues, unlike AIADMK leaders. “Many workers are leaving the party for the DMK as the top leadership is passive, cold and half-hearted,” said a leader, calling it a “slow death of the AIADMK”.
Annamalai, a 38-year-old former IPS officer of Karnataka cadre, is believed to have been brought into politics and the BJP by senior leader BL Santhosh. Some of Annamalai’s statements may be seen as juvenile, but the party has no objection, to keep it in the news.
A former minister said: “The workers and local leaders who have stood by the AIADMK in difficult times feel that the party has completely surrendered to the BJP, leaving the leadership inactive.”
However, another former minister, who sided with Palaniswami in his confrontation with VK Sasikala over AIADMK control after Jayalalithaa’s death, said viewing Ponnaiyan’s statement as a sign to break ties with the BJP or to Delhi would be wrong. He said that no leader can do this in view of the “apprehension of dire consequences if we go against Delhi”.
“The purpose of Ponnaiyan’s statement was to remind our workers that the leadership is still active,” he said.
A senior AIADMK leader said Ponnaiyan would not have acted on his own. “Though his statement was not well planned, the party has given him the green signal to go aggressive against the BJP,” the leader said. Within the AIADMK, Ponnaiya is supported by Palaniswami, who controls the party.
Another leader acknowledged the hardship in which the AIADMK found itself. Despite not contesting the recent local body polls with the BJP after contesting the Lok Sabha and assembly elections together, the leader says they do not have much bargaining power. “We can negotiate with BJP state leaders on the number of seats etc., but not from Delhi,” the leader said.
Annamalai has been claiming that the local election results showed that the BJP was now the third largest party in the state, although the BJP got most of the gains in one district of Kanyakumari.
Annamalai was not available for comment, but a senior leader who worked with him said the BJP has nothing to lose in Tamil Nadu. “It is about introducing the people of the state to the party. Annamalai has been successful in this as compared to his predecessors,” the leader said.
AIADMK leader’s attack on BJP as 2024 election, shows restlessness in ally’s shadow
A swift, unexpected attack against an ally BJP Senior AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan was representative of the recent churning within the Tamil Nadu party over its ties with the Delhi-centric BJP. With DMK leader and Chief Minister MK Stalin consolidating his position, there are increasing voices within the AIADMK on the need to position itself as a separate entity within the alliance – especially when the DMK is reeling from the escalating tensions between the state and the AIADMK. Taking advantage. Narendra ModiLeadership Center.
AIADMK has come under the influence of BJP after the death of supremo J Jayalalithaa. While his stature has made him a key partner in any alliance, the BJP has used his absence to make quiet inroads into Tamil Nadu by riding on a weak and divided AIADMK.
while addressing party workers on Tuesday and was talking later Indian ExpressAIADMK veteran and the party’s organizational secretary, Ponnaiyan accused the BJP-led Center of “stealing” the state’s revenue and “anti-Tamil” policies, and blamed it for the AIADMK’s electoral defeat and alienating minority voters. ordained. from party.
Ponnaiyan said he was only raising what others felt, and the AIADMK needed to assert itself while there was still time to prepare the workers for the 2024 elections. “The party’s closed-door meeting is being held across the state. We have feedback from general cadres.
best of express premium
But asked if this means that the AIADMK will break ties with the BJP, Ponnaiyan said: “We will decide it at the right time.”
Several AIADMK leaders told The Indian Express that Ponnaiyan’s statements were in line with the party’s formal decision to overcome an “existential crisis”. In the meetings, leaders have reprimanded top AIADMK leaders for being “passive”, while the BJP “rises on our shoulders”.
The leaders said that apart from ties with the BJP, there is huge discontent among party workers over the “apathy” and “negligence” of the AIADMK leadership to play its role as the main opposition. Many pointed out how the relatively novice state president of the BJP, K Annamalai, has emerged as the main opposition face because of his high visibility on Tamil Nadu issues, unlike AIADMK leaders. “Many workers are leaving the party for the DMK as the top leadership is passive, cold and half-hearted,” said a leader, calling it a “slow death of the AIADMK”.
Annamalai, a 38-year-old former IPS officer of Karnataka cadre, is believed to have been brought into politics and the BJP by senior leader BL Santhosh. Some of Annamalai’s statements may be seen as juvenile, but the party has no objection, to keep it in the news.
A former minister said: “The workers and local leaders who have stood by the AIADMK in difficult times feel that the party has completely surrendered to the BJP, leaving the leadership inactive.”
However, another former minister, who sided with Palaniswami in his confrontation with VK Sasikala over AIADMK control after Jayalalithaa’s death, said viewing Ponnaiyan’s statement as a sign to break ties with the BJP or to Delhi would be wrong. He said that no leader can do this in view of the “apprehension of dire consequences if we go against Delhi”.
“The purpose of Ponnaiyan’s statement was to remind our workers that the leadership is still active,” he said.
A senior AIADMK leader said Ponnaiyan would not have acted on his own. “Though his statement was not well planned, the party has given him the green signal to go aggressive against the BJP,” the leader said. Within the AIADMK, Ponnaiya is supported by Palaniswami, who controls the party.
Another leader acknowledged the hardship in which the AIADMK found itself. Despite not contesting the recent local body polls with the BJP after contesting the Lok Sabha and assembly elections together, the leader says they do not have much bargaining power. “We can negotiate with BJP state leaders on the number of seats etc., but not from Delhi,” the leader said.
Annamalai has been claiming that the local election results showed that the BJP was now the third largest party in the state, although the BJP got most of the gains in one district of Kanyakumari.
Annamalai was not available for comment, but a senior leader who worked with him said the BJP has nothing to lose in Tamil Nadu. “It is about introducing the people of the state to the party. Annamalai has been successful in this as compared to his predecessors,” the leader said.