CHENNAI: BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran on Sunday night held discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s residence in New Delhi. The meeting assumes significance as it took place a few days after Nagenthran held comprehensive discussions with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Replying to queries from reporters, Nagenthran said it was a courtesy call and he did not discuss the number of seats BJP will contest in the Assembly elections. Nagenthran said he requested Shah to take part on the concluding day of his yatra on January 9 in Tamil Nadu. The BJP state president also said he did not speak about alliance matters in this meeting. Asked whether Amit Shah is coming to Tamil Nadu in the coming days, he replied negatively.
Nagenthran reached Delhi on Saturday and also called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
While former BJP State president K Annamalai has been expressing the view that a “strong NDA” is needed to win the DMK-led alliance, Palaniswami, through the resolution adopted in the AIADMK general council meeting, made it clear that the party does not want any “interference” in accommodating more parties into the NDA in Tamil Nadu. In this backdrop, Nainar Nagenthran met Amit Shah. BJP sources said Amit Shah is likely to decide about his itinerary in Tamil Nadu in the coming days.
When asked about the speculations that BJP might seek over 50 seats in the AIADMK-led alliance, a BJP functionary, being non-committal about the number of seats, said the number is based on the Assembly segment-wise performance of BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He also pointed out that Palaniswami himself had pointed out that AIADMK and BJP secured 41.33% votes. He said identification of winnable constituencies would be a crucial exercise, while securing a good number of seats in the alliance is being focused on now.