BJP vows to throw out DMK regime by 2001

TIRUCHI, March 20: The much-hyped BJP State conference kicked off to a start here today with the ambitious goal of throwing out the DMK r...

TIRUCHI, March 20: The much-hyped BJP State conference kicked off to a start here today with the ambitious goal of throwing out the DMK regime in Tamil Nadu by 2001 when the State goes to Assembly polls, and provide an alternative government. Hours before the arrival of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, the slogan `from Rock Fort to Fort St George’ has become the byword of the conference which has virtually draped the temple-town in saffron, accompanied by some stiflingly intense security.

“The conference is the starting point or launch of our campaign to bring the BJP to a position where we can claim that we have the support to rule the State,” the high-profile BJP MP from Tiruchi and Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam declared, minutes after the inauguration of the mega-event organised to mark the first anniversary of the BJP-led Government at the Centre.

Talking to media persons at the conference venue — Anna stadium at suburban Subramaniapuram — the Minister stated: “Our slogan is clear.We are targeting Fort St George.” He, however, refused to divulge as to how a party with just one MLA and three MPs could make a bid for power in TN, under the sway of the Dravidians. “We don’t have to break the trend. The people will do it. They know the sort of combinations the Dravidian parties have provided,” he said. Kumaramangalam went on to note that it was the “failure of the Congress leadership to realise the aspirations of the TN people” which ushered in Dravidian party rule in the first place. He, however, hoped that TN would “identify itself with the national mainstream”. Earlier, State BJP general secretary L Ganesan emphatically set the tone and tenor of the conference, declaring that the DMK Government would be removed by 2001 and the BJP would play a significant role in providing an alternative Government.

AIADMK boycotts PM arrival

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee arrived in the temple town of Tiruchi by a special flight at about 11 pm today to a warm reception accorded by thekey state BJP functionaries and local leaders of the alliance parties barring the AIADMK. While MDMK, TRC, PMK and even the TMC had deputed its representatives to receive the Prime Minister at the airport, the AIADMK chose to `boycott’. Besides Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, state BJP leaders K N Lakshmanan and H Raja, Tiruchi Mayor Punithavalli Pazhaniandi and district collector V Murthy were at the airport to receive the PM.