Only two hours enough for constituency-sharing talks: BJP TN president Nainar
COIMBATORE: BJP State President Nainar Nagenthran has indicated that constituency-sharing talks within the NDA would begin in about a month, as only two months remain before the assembly elections. When asked if one month would be enough for the talks and strategies, he replied confidently that "only two hours is enough".
He said that their sole aim is to remove the DMK from power in Tamil Nadu. "We will not ask for anything, including power-sharing," he said.
When questioned about the possibility of a coalition government as both DMK and AIADMK are claiming it to be not possible in Tamil Nadu, Nagenthran said the BJP has not commented on it.
"As far as the BJP is concerned, we do not focus on who leads the government, we focus only on removing DMK from power," he said, mentioning Bihar as the example where the NDA alliance has Nitish Kumar as CM.
Nagenthran dismissed rumours of cold war between him and Annamalai, "We are brothers, and there is no dispute between us. The media should focus on good governance, not on blowing up such issues. Annamalai's current responsibility is conducting 24,000 street meetings across TN by coordinating with all Sakthi Kendra in-charges via video conferencing, he said.
Nagenthran attended a Modi Camp focusing on central government's welfare schemes organised by BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan at Kalveerampalayam near Vadavalli in Coimbatore North Constituency on Thursday. Speaking at the camp, Nagenthran emphasised that the BJP's sole aim is to remove the DMK from power in Tamil Nadu. "We will not ask for anything, including power-sharing," he stated.
He also met reporters and slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin, saying "the CM does not know what is happening in the state" and has "forgotten his poll promises made to Anganwadi workers, leading to their protests now." Nagenthran said that sanitary workers and other government staff have also been protesting against the government asking to fulfil DMK's poll promises. "As many as 470 poll promises remain unfulfilled by DMK," he alleged.
He hoped that while certain sections of government employees are protesting openly, the common public has moved beyond street protests and they will express their anger on election day by voting against the DMK. Regarding the alliance, he said more political parties are expected to join the NDA, with updates likely after Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to TN. He indicated that constituency-sharing talks within the NDA would begin in about a month. He then clarified he would not contest from Coimbatore.
Responding to the DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran's remark calling TVK leader Vijay the "B-team of BJP", he refuted it, saying Vijay is speaking against the BJP. Supporting Vijay on accusation on framing SOP for political meetings, Nagenthran accused the state government of ignoring court directions on multiple issues and suppressing opposition voices.
Earlier he along with the BJP functionaries extended their support to the Anganwadi workers who are protesting for the tenth consecutive day in Coimbatore stressing various demands. During the interaction, the workers called for fund allocation for them by both the central and state governments and appealed that if the state government fails to fulfil their demands, at least the central government should accept their requests and allocate funds. They asked him, "What should we do if the central and state governments keep shifting responsibility back and forth on fulfilling our demands?" He replied that it was the "DMK government that gave you election promises. You should ask them." He further added, "We are not like others; what we say, we will do. We will raise this issue in the upcoming Assembly session," he said.