Chennai: The different stand of BJP leaders vis-a-vis the AIADMK government has raised eyebrows. While one section of BJP seniors has been harsh in its attacks on AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa and her government, another section equally influential has been heaping praise on her as an ‘able administrator.’
The latest anti-Jayalalithaa salvo came from none other than the powerful BJP president Amit Shah, who accused her of heading the “most corrupt” government though he slammed her arch-rival M. Karunanidhi too in similar terms.
Addressing a public meeting in Tiruchirapalli on Wednesday, Shah claimed corruption was at its peak in the State and alleged there was no proper tendering process for any scheme.
The BJP chief’s accusation came close on the heels of Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s outburst against Jayalalithaa calling her “inaccessible”. Goyal had said he faced problems in implementing schemes formulated by the Centre in Tamil Nadu, triggering a strong response from Jayalalithaa’s cabinet colleagues.
While Shah accused Jayalalithaa of maladministration and corruption, his colleague and senior BJP leader and Union Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu, had in February termed AIADMK chief as an “able administrator.” Naidu has been praising Jayalalithaa and her administration in several press conferences and meetings of the Union Urban Development Ministry.
Naidu, in fact, along with his cabinet colleague Arun Jaitley has been maintaining super-cordial relationship with Jayalalithaa irrespective of whether she was in power or not. These two ministers have met Jayalalithaa more than once in Chennai and are in regular touch with her over phone on several issues.
Even when Goyal accused Chief Minister of being “inaccessible”, Naidu, came to her rescue saying that could be the personal experience of Goyal and that he (Naidu) had met Jayalalithaa twice after he took over as Union Minister in 2014.
BJP’s rhetoric has been confusing in election-bound Tamil Nadu – while rivals of Jayalalithaa are lapping up the BJP criticism – DMK chief M. Karunanidhi questioning her silence on Shah’s accusation – the general public seems to be rather dismissive about the contradictory stand of leaders in BJP.
“BJP has to play to the gallery to appear relevant this election season despite its poor strength in Tamil Nadu. The Modi government gets maximum support from Amma’s MPs – especially in Rajya Sabha where the party has 11 members. Also, AIADMK is the third largest party in Lok Sabha,” Naveen Kumar, a software professional, a keen political observer, told DC.
BJP leaders, while on tour in Tamil Nadu, criticise AIADMK government and Jayalalithaa, but their managers in Parliament bank heavily on 11MPs of the regional party to get several bills passed in Rajya Sabha. These MPs have bailed out the BJP Government on several occasions.
The AIADMK also hit back at BJP for calling the Chief Minister “inaccessible” with Power Minister Natham R. Viswanathan calling it a false accusation made for political reasons. “It was cheap politics keeping in mind the coming Assembly election,” he had said.
