It's DMK vs BJP in 2024, says Annamalai

Chennai: BJP State president K Annamalai said his party’s fight in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be directly with the DMK and exuded confidence in making a clean sweep of the 39 seats in the State as the mandate for the polls would be to re-elect Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

Since the BJP was the ruling party in the Union and the DMK in the State, only these two parties would be fighting it out by explaining their achievements to the electorate, thus taking the other parties out of the picture, he said, suggesting that the AIADMK would become irrelevant.

Answering the questions of media persons as he came out of the consultative meeting of BJP top leaders and functionaries, called to discuss the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections at a kalyana mandapam in Aminjikarai on Thursday, he said the change in people’s political preferences would be known to others after the polls.

Without exactly making any reference to the AIADMK walking out on the BJP and NDA, he refused to comment on the various charges levelled against him by different AIADMK leaders for making derogatory references to their leaders.

He also refused to speak on the possible coalitions that the BJP might form in the State ahead of the election and said that his focus was only to win the Lok Sabha elections and not on who came into the NDA or who left the NDA.

The elections in 2024 would reveal the growth of the BJP in the State, he said before leaving the venue to appear for the court hearing on the defamation case filed by DMK treasurer T R Baalu over the charges made as part of the DMK Files that he released to the media.

Since Annamalai had then said that he would also release details about the wealth accumulated by AIADMK leaders, he was asked if an AIADMK Files could be expected soon. But the BJP leader did not reply to the question saying that he would not say anything on that.

Even former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who formally addressed the media after the meeting, did not reveal anything about the plans of the party but just said that the meeting discussed strategies to face the elections.

Annamalai had explained about his visit to New Delhi and his interactions with the top leaders at the meeting, he said.

The total restraint shown by the BJP leaders, be it at the State or national level, in reacting to the split and Aannamalai's repeated remarks on the high command deciding on issues like alliance only strengthened the speculations that the BJP top brass might approach the AIADMK for renewing the ties for the elections.

However, the AIADMK leaders, including general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, have made it clear that there was no question of a rethink on the alliance.