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More Union ministers likely to visit Tamil Nadu as BJP aims to get foothold ahead of ’24 polls
“Our alliance with the AIADMK is good, there is no problem. But there is nothing wrong in us being ambitious for our party’s growth,” said a BJP state minister, not wishing to be named. “We are certainly more visible now than we have been before.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to get a foothold in Tamil Nadu, with a long list of Union ministers expected to arrive in the state before the year-end, local party leaders aware of the developments said on Sunday.
Vernacular media also quoted BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai telling reporters last Monday that the 76 union ministers will come to the state.
“Our alliance with the AIADMK is good, there is no problem. But there is nothing wrong in us being ambitious for our party’s growth,” said a BJP state minister, not wishing to be named. “We are certainly more visible now than we have been before.”
Earlier this month, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani were in Chennai and Coimbatore, respectively, to oversee the progress of schemes sponsored by the Centre in Tamil Nadu.
Goyal, the Union minister of commerce and industry and textile, inaugurated stalls of the union government schemes last Sunday at a bus stand in Chennai. During his two-day visit, he blamed the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government for indulging in irregularities and corruption.
“You all also have to grow. Not just one family,” he said.
“We have to take our schemes to the people,” said a BJP leader.
“The aim is to turn our beneficiaries into our voters. There is no doubt that the AIADMK leads the alliance, but by the next assembly election, BJP will want to come on its own in Tamil Nadu.”
Lately, the state BJP has been on the defensive with chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin being aggressive in his stance against the imposition of Hindi. He issued a warning after Union home minister Amit Shah had said that Hindi should be the unifying language. After reports purportedly emerged of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language chaired by Shah recommending Hindi to replace English as the medium of instruction in all central educational institutions, Stalin has written two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against it. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly last Monday moved a resolution against it.
BJP chief Annamalai said that no committee made any recommendation as alleged by the DMK, and in such a hypothetical situation they would oppose it.
