THOOTHUKUDI: Despite being an alliance partner of the ruling AIADMK, the BJP is trying the 2011 DMDK strategy to become a prominent opposition party, said Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur C Raju.
The minister was participating in a government function at Therku Vandhanam near Kovilpatti for distribution of potable water on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD).
Asked for his reaction to BJP functionary VP Duraisamy's statement that the 2021 assembly elections would be a direct fight between the DMK and BJP, Raju told reporters that the two parties could fight for the second place as the AIADMK will emerge successful again.
In the 2011 assembly elections, the DMDK headed by actor Vijayakanth was allied with the AIADMK, but later went on to become the leading opposition party in the state assembly.
The BJP despite being in the alliance of the AIADMK may have thought of the same strategy, he said. "Duraisamy might have hinted at the BJP's strategy in the 2021 assembly elections under the AIADMK alliance to grab the prominent opposition party status, which is the second place, by defeating the DMK," the minister said.
The minister went on to criticise the opposition DMK, saying nepotism and family politics are taking stronger root inside the Dravidian party. "Family politics in the DMK is even worse than in the times of former Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi," the minister said.
Raju added that DMK president MK Stalin is worried over the elevation of his sister and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi as she is not in a position to accept his leadership. Fearing Kanimozhi's politics, Stalin has brought in his son Udhayanidhi Stalin into politics, he alleged. Thus the DMK's senior leaders like Duraisamy, the former deputy speaker, switched allegiance to the BJP, Raju said.
As repeatedly mentioned by Stalin's elder brother Azhagiri, DMK functionaries are agonised over the bitter family politics in the party, he added.