A meeting was held between senior AIADMK leaders and top BJP leaders at Amit Shah’s residence late on Wednesday night. (Twitter @annamalai_k)
Shah’s decision to meet Palaniswami—in Annamalai’s presence—underlines Annamalai’s integration into the BJP’s decision-making process regarding Tamil Nadu
Amid strained relations between Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai-led AIADMK, the former met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda in New Delhi late on Wednesday night.
A meeting was held between senior AIADMK leaders and top BJP leaders at Shah’s residence late on Wednesday night. Annamalai was also present in the meeting which lasted for over 40 minutes. This was also the first meeting with the senior leadership of the BJP after Palaniswami became the general secretary of the party after several legal battles.
A source in the know of the development said, “Edappadi’s Palaniswami told Amit Shah that the alliance should continue or else it would make it easier for their common enemy (DMK) to win.”
Sources say that top BJP leaders wanted Annamalai to be present in the meeting to sort out any differences between the two parties over the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting follows a stream of strongly worded exchanges between Palaniswami and Annamalai. The first instance was the AIADMK kicking off the Erode East campaign without reference to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi In posters and banners. Annamalai then ruffled feathers by announcing that his crusade against corruption would not be confined to the DMK, hacking at the AIADMK. Since then, comments about Palamiswamy’s attitude and Annamalai’s political style have been highly critical.
Shah’s decision to meet Palaniswami in Annamalai’s presence underscores Annamalai’s integration into the BJP’s decision-making process regarding Tamil Nadu.
While EPS called it a courtesy call, he also said that the alliance was intact and denied reports of a rift between him and Annamalai.
“There is no rift between Annamalai and us. If there was a fight, would he have campaigned for us in the Erode bypoll? Some people are trying to create a rift between BJP and AIADMK. Some people tried to ask questions with the ulterior motive of creating a rift between BJP and AIADMK and to put a full stop to that I said ‘Don’t ask me questions about her (Annamalai)’…’
Meanwhile, sources say that the BJP high command has ironed out the existing differences between the state BJP and the AIADMK. The BJP had also made it clear to the AIADMK that how many seats it would like to contest in 2024, a source close to the development told News18.
Other things that were discussed in the meeting reportedly included audio clips of PTR Palanivel Thiyaga Rajan. Both the AIADMK and the BJP have demanded a probe by a central agency.
Amid debate over the standoff position by the AIADMK towards the BJP, the meeting has given rise to speculation whether the regional party has softened its stand with the BJP. In the upcoming parliamentary elections, the AIADMK-BJP alliance is an important determinant of how the regional parties will combine for the elections.
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