Day after the MDMK leader Vaiko met the DMK’s suspended leader M K Alagiri, BJP State vice-president and Sivaganga BJP candidate H Raja met the Madurai strongman at his residence here on Monday seeking his support in the poll.
Raja, who was impressed by Alagiri’s statement welcoming Modi as Prime Minister said, “Alagiri assured me that he will consider extending support to me. I hope he will come out with a decision in my favour.”
Talking to Express, Raja said that the NDA partners, MDMK, BJP and DMDK, were strong in southern belt and expressed confidence that the alliance would win eight out of 10 seats due to Modi wave.
To a question whether the internal rivalry in the DMK would work in favour of NDA candidates in southern districts, he said that in the last parliamentary election the DMK and Congress were in alliance, so they managed to put up a good show in the region. “But the scene has changed now. Their votes are divided and much of them have moved towards to the BJP because of Modi wave,” he said.
Referring to the performance of sitting Sivaganga MP and Finance Minister Chidambaram, Raja said that though the Congress big ticket represented the constituency for several years, still the region has not seen no major development. “I have visited constituencies of many ministers and other national leaders and most of them have witnessed remarkable growth. For instance, the Gandhinagar constituency represented by BJP senior leader Advani has seen an all around development. In 1984, when Chidambaram was elected as MP, Sivaganga was one among the backward districts. And, even today it remains the same.”
Commenting on Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s remarks regarding the controversy over Chidamabaram’s election result in the last Lok Sabha election, he said it was an open secret. Even former Delhi Chief Minister and Congress bigwig Sheila Dikshit had commented then that it was unfortunate Chidambaram had been defected in the election and he would be made a minister through a Rajya Sabha ticket.
Raja, who would soon release the election manifesto for Sivaganga, has planned to launch his campaign from March 30.
Also Read: