On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party lost a key ally in Tamil Nadu, when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party dissolved its ties to the ruling party at the centre. This came as a jolt to the BJP, just months before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as key state assembly elections ahead of that.
The leader of AIADMK, Kovai Sathyan, said it is the saffron party which needs the AIADMK and not the other way round.
It's the BJP which needs AIADMK and it's not AIADMK that needs BJP as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, Sathyan said.
While he was participating in the En Mann En Makkal Yatra in Tamilnadu, Annamalai said his aim was to achieve uudist status in the state.
While the snapping of ties between the two political parties in Tamil Nadu is seen as a blow to the BJP, many political leaders in the state have argued that it is only a temporary separation.
TKS Elangovan, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, took a swipe at the BJP, saying that the Enforcement Directorate will now have to expand their foothold in the state.
i think this breakup will last for ever at least until the parliament elections in 2024. This is a ploy by the AIADMK to force the BJP to sack Annamalai and place someone who would be amenable to them. Beyond that, I don't think AIADMK has the guts to shed off its links with the BJP forever. He added that AIADMK has not criticised any of the BJP's policies.
Dravidian Kazhagam President K Veeramani shared the same view as Dravidian Kazhagam President. '' whether the separation is permanent or temporary, whether it is a judicial separation or an official divorce. For them, going back and coming out is a very ordinary thing. It creates news value for newspapers, he said.
Tamil Nadu's BJP leader, CT Ravi, has supported Annamalai, saying that the party is being strengthened under the leadership of Tamil Nadu's Narendra Modi.
I don't want to say anything today. Every worker is required to make the party strong. A great work of strengthening the party is being done under the leadership of K Annamalai, he said.
Arvind Alvi, the leader of the AIADMK, said that it's a step in the right direction for the AIADMK if they have taken the decision after understanding the ideology of the BJP.
Ravi said that India has made strides to tackle corruption, including by bringing in new technologies.
Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, said that the BJP lost a major ally in south India and it is a big loss to the party.
Yadav said there was no possibility of retaliatory action against Iran's nuclear program.
Earlier this evening, an AIADMK Deputy Coordinator K P Munusamy announced that his party is breaking all ties with the BJP and the NDA with immediate effect.
Munusamy, who resigned as chairperson of the National Democratic Party, said he was disappointed with the way the election was being conducted.
The BJP that lost Karnataka this year managed to join hands with Janata Dal this week. However, with AIADMK exiting the NDA fold today, the political landscape in south India changes once again for the BJP.