Chennai: After procrastinating for some time, Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) chief G K Vasan announced on Monday his party’s decision to forge a coalition with the BJP for the coming Lok Sabha elections and decided to attend the public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Palladam on Tuesday, putting to rest all speculations of his moving over to the side of the AIADMK.
The Prime Minister will be at Palladam in Tiruppur district, where BJP State president K Annamalai will conclude his ‘En Mann, En Makkal’ (My land, my people) yatra on Tuesday afternoon. Modi will then go to Madurai for a programme titled ‘Creating the Future – Digital Mobility for Automotive MSME Entrepreneurs’ at 5.15 pm and attened another official program at Thoothukudi on Wednesday morning to inaugurate rail projects and also some other projects at the port.
But the State BJP is banking on Modi’s visit to the State to launch its campaign for the elections and also to draw smaller parties into its fold. Apart from showcasing Vasan on the stage, the party might also introduce the two other allies they have now, one, A C Shanmugham of New Justice Party and T R Pachamuthu of Indya Jananayaga Katchi. Pachamuthu, who was with the DMK front in the last election, and Shanmugham are expected to contest the polls in the BJP’s symbol.
Annamalai was expecting one more ‘big leader’ to join the BJP at Coimbatore on Tuesday but the event called for that was cancelled. It remained a mystery as to whom Annamalai was hoping to bring to his party since none of the other office bearers had any idea about it. Anyway Modi is once again visiting the State on March 4 when he will be addressing a public meeting in Chennai and if the BJP manages to get more leaders, they could be showcased on that occasion.
Vasan, who was in the NDA along with the AIADMK earlier, drew criticism from the Congress for aligning with the BJP. TNCC president K Selvaperunthogai slammed him for joining hands with the party, recalling his father G K Moopanar, a veteran Congress leader who broke away to form the TMC, supporting the no confidence motion moved against the Vajpayee government by the Congress.
He said that Vasan was given several responsibilities including the post of union minister by the Congress just because he was Moopanar’s son and that he had done something that his late father would never approve of.
But Annamalai said Vasan had given the confidence to the people of the State that might lead to more MPs of the State being part of the NDA. He also said that Vasan would guide the BJP leaders in the State. Vasan on his part said that India could emerge stronger under Modi.
However, TMC youth wing leader Yuvaraj called on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami soon after Vasan made his announcement to go with the BJP. Though he described his meeting with Palaniswami as a ‘courtesy call’ (both the parties had been allies and it was the AIADMK that ensured that Vasan got a berth in the Rajya Sabha), it triggered speculations on possible defections from the TMC to the AIADMK.
