Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami begins his Delhi visit today, likely to meet PM Modi
Palaniswami's party AIADMK and BJP had formed an alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and will fight the crucial assembly elections together.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami will reach Delhi on Monday on a two-day visit where he will discuss the political situation in Tamil Nadu with the senior leaders of his alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Assembly elections are due in Tamil Nadu in April-May this year. Palaniswami's party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and BJP had formed an alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and will fight the crucial assembly elections together.
Senior BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah and party president Jagat Prakash Nadda, recently visited the state.
Palaniswami is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 19 and invite him to unveil a memorial for late former chief minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in Chennai among other infrastructure projects for the state.
The issue of the release of AIADMK's former interim secretary VK Sasikala is also expected to feature in discussions during Palaniswami's visit to the national capital.
Last week, the BJP had said tha its 'major' partner in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK would decide its chief ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections.
"They are the major partners. In Tamil Nadu state, AIADMK is the major partner. They will decide who their next Chief Ministerial candidate is. They will decide," BJP national general secretary and in-charge of Tamil Nadu C T Ravi said on January 11.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also likely to visit the Coimbatore district January 23 for an election campaign. It is likely to be a three-day campaign in the western belt covering Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruppur, people aware of the matter said.
The western belt is the citadel of the AIADMK which the DMK-led opposition is working to win over.