BJP claims big gains in TN as ex-MLAs, former MP join party; but most of them seen as spent forces

“Some of them have been in politics for the last 50 years; some were part of their former parties when they were founded in Tamil Nadu. Today, they have all come to the headquarters in New Delhi to join the BJP and take the blessings of party president J P Nadda. This is the first time in Tamil Nadu that 16 senior people have joined the party at the same time. Two former MLAs had also joined during the ‘En Mann En Makkal’ yatra,” Annamalai said. The yatra criss-crossing the state was led by him.

The former AIADMK MLAs who joined the BJP on Wednesday are K Vadivel (Karur), Challenger Duraisamy (Coimbatore), P S Kandhasamy (Aravakurichi), M V Rathinam (Pollachi), R Chinnasamy (Singanallur), V R Jayaraman (Theni), S M Vasan (Vedasanthur), P S Arul (Bhuvanagiri), R Rajendran (Kaatumannarkoil), Selvi Murugesan (Kangeyam) and A Rokini (Kolathur), apart from ex-AIADMK minister Gomathi Srinivasan.

From the DMK, former Chidambaram MP V Kulandaivelu and ex-MLA S Gurunathan (Palayamkottai) also switched camps, as did former Congress MLA R Thangaraju, who got elected from Andimatam in 1991, and former DMDK MLA K Tamilagan, who got elected from Thittakudi constituency in 2011.

மாண்புமிகு பாரதப் பிரதமர் திரு @narendramodi அவர்கள் நல்லாட்சியால் ஈர்க்கப்பட்டு, அவரது கரங்களை வலுப்படுத்த, இன்றைய தினம் டெல்லியில், மத்திய இணை அமைச்சர் திரு @Rajeev_GoI, மத்திய இணை அமைச்சர் திரு @Murugan_MoS, @BJP4TamilNadu பாராளுமன்ற தேர்தல் பொறுப்பாளர் திரு @MenonArvindBJP,… pic.twitter.com/874jx985o7

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 7, 2024

After receiving their party cards from Chandrasekhar, the leaders raised slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Modi ji Zindabad”.

Annamalai said it was a great occasion for the Tamil Nadu BJP, as leaders who had seen the country developing under the years of the Modi government had decided to join the party.
However, back home, the leaders who joined the BJP Wednesday are seen as old-timers not holding much stakes currently. Some of them served as legislators during 1970-1984 when M G Ramachandran, the founder of the AIADMK, was the Tamil Nadu CM. The lone former MP, V Kulandaivelu of the DMK, was last elected in 1980.

In fact, the joining did not draw even a reaction from their former parties.

Responding to a question on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement that all options were open, and whether that meant the BJP would patch up with the AIADMK again, Annamalai said Shah had always maintained that anyone who wants to “strengthen the hands of PM Modi” was welcome, and that his remarks were not specific to the AIADMK alone.

“The shape and form of the alliance will be announced in the coming days. We are only in the first week of February, there is still time left. Anyone can join the NDA after accepting PM Modi’s leadership. We are not going to force anyone, many parties are in talks with us,” he said.