CHENNAI: Suspense continued with regard to who would be fielded by the NDA for the forth coming Srirangam bypoll scheduled for February 13 as the meeting between BJP State president Tamilisai Soundarrajan and DMDK leader Vijayakant on Wednesday failed to break the deadlock over the issue.
With the filmstar-turned-politician refusing to reveal if he would support a BJP candidate or field his own nominee during the meeting, talks between the two parties remained inconclusive.
This is in stark contrast to what happened during the run up to the local body elections in the state. Then, Vijayakant instantly threw his weight behind the BJP after the state BJP president called on him.Tamilisai, after the meeting, told reporters that talks would continue and that NDA would definitely enter the fray. She added that a decision on which party would field its nominee would be taken by the alliance leaders in a couple of days. The BJP leader also said that the central leaders are being kept in the loop over the prevailing scenario in the state. She rejected suggestions that the PMK, which declared that it would not support any party in the bypoll, had quit the BJP alliance. She added that she would meet the PMK leaders soon and secure their support for the alliance candidate in Srirangam.
While Tamilisai was optimistic of a positive decision, none of the DMDK leaders commented on the over 30-minute talks. However, the DMDK leaders informally said that they are wary of the BJP, which they suspect would join hands with the AIADMK in due course. Despite the state BJP leaders asserting that the alliance was intact, DMDK leaders opine that there are contrary signals emanating from the national leadership.