We are preparing to face 2019 Lok Sabha elections alone, AIADMK tells The Hindu
Propaganda Secretary Thambi Durai quoted Deputy CM O Panneerselvam as saying that an alliance with other parties will be discussed at the time of polls.
Tamil Nadu’s ruling party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has said it is preparing to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on its own, The Hindu reported on Saturday.
“This is the position of the party, as things stand today,” AIADMK Propaganda Secretary and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M Thambi Durai told the newspaper.
Thambi Durai quoted Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on the party’s approach to the elections that were outlined during a recent meeting of the party executive. “He [Panneerselvam] reminded us that both during the 2014 parliamentary elections and the Assembly polls in the State, the party, under the leadership of Amma [J Jayalalithaa], single-handedly approached the electorate,” Thambi Durai said, adding that the AIADMK won 37 seats in 2014 and retained power in Tamil Nadu two years later.
Panneerselvam also said alliance with other parties would be addressed at the time of elections, according to Thambi Durai.
When asked if the party is as powerful now as it was under the leadership of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to contest the elections by itself, Thambi Durai said: “The state government is following Amma’s polices. It remains steadfastly loyal to the ideals of regional pride and the promotion of Tamil language [and] culture, as cherished by ‘Puratchi Thalaivar’ [MG Ramachandran] and Amma. So, we are confident of going it alone.”
Thambi Durai also accused Opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam of moving closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party despite them accusing the AIADMK of being BJP’s “B team”.
Thambi Durai said DMK’s “lukewarm participation” in the Bharat Bandh called by its ally, the Congress, and the “absence” of two of its MPs during the election of Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson were instances that supported his stand.
He also alleged that searches by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the residences of Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and Director General of Police TK Rajendran in connection with the gutka scam were conducted at the “instigation” of the DMK, which had held demonstrations over the scam.