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Is BJP pushing for merger of AIADMK and Dhinakaran’s party? Speculation rife in Tamil Nadu
Speculation is rife in Tamil Nadu’s political circles that the BJP is pushing to merge Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by VK Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran into the ruling AIADMK with an eye on Lok Sabha elections next year.
Speculation is rife in Tamil Nadu’s political circles that the BJP is pushing to merge Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by VK Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran into the ruling AIADMK with an eye on Lok Sabha elections next year.
Leaders of both parties claim that income tax sleuths grilling Sasikala in Bengaluru prison, where she is incarcerated, and CBI bringing health minister C Vijayabhaskar under its scrutiny are indications of the saffron party’s willingness to bring the two factions on the same page.
It was Lok Sabha deputy speaker and AIADMK veteran M Thambidurai who first indicated the same. When the CBI carried out raids on the residences of Vijayabhaskar and Tamil Nadu DGP TK Rajendran in September, he alleged BJP’s hands and said there was a purpose behind the action.
Now it is the turn of Dhinakaran’s lieutenant and one of the disqualified MLAs, Thanga Tamilselvan, to claim a saffron hand behind the IT and CBI raids, as well as grilling Sasikala in Bengaluru’s Parapanan Agrahara prison.
“While the I-T department questioned our leader Sasikala last week, health minister Vijayabhaskar was also subjected to marathon grilling by the CBI in Chennai in connection with the multi-crore gutkha scam. In my view, this appears to be the BJP’s strategy to push the merger of AMMK into AIADMK,” Tamilselvan told HT.
According to him, the saffron party wants to build a formidable alliance to take on the DMK-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“This is because the BJP has realised the futility of aligning with the AIADMK. In order to counter the DMK-Congress alliance, it is looking for a strong alliance. Since there are no strong leaders in AIADMK and Dhinakaran proving himself as a crowd puller, BJP might have understood the necessity of bringing the AMMK on board,” Tamilselvan said.
To a question, he said, “We are ready to join hands with AIADMK minus CM Edappadi Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam. Even the BJP knows which leader is popular with the cadre.”
Meanwhile, fisheries minister D Jayakumar reiterated the party’s position that all those who have moved away were welcome except Sasikala and Dhinakaran. “We cannot accept Dhinakaran and Sasikala’s family,” he told HT.
“Since many disqualified MLAs and office-bearers with Dhinakaran are looking for a homecoming, Tamilselvan is engaged in kite-flying to hoodwink them,” Jayakumar said. He also declined to read much into the I-T and CBI actions against Sasikala and Vijayabhaskar.
He, however, was diplomatic on ties with BJP. “It is a government-to-government relationship and not a political relationship. Anyhow, our leaders will decide about an alliance when the election is announced,” was his response.
However, earlier this month, Panneerselvam had hinted at aligning with the BJP, saying, “Even the DMK and other parties in Tamil Nadu have aligned with the BJP in the past and shared power at the Centre.”
Denying that the BJP is on a mission to merge AIADMK and AMMK, BJP state general secretary Karu Nagarajan said the party has never used any central agency for political ends. “They have to unite for their own interest and not for us,” he said.
“Everyone knows that AIADMK and AMMK could not win if they plough a lonely furrow. It is the political reality. Since the DMK is sewing up an alliance of multiple parties, only a unified AIADMK could beat them. If they are joining hands, it will be good for them,” Nagarajan said.
“Leaders of both factions have not denied the need for a merger. But both are asking the other to be more accommodative,” he said.
Reacting to the developments, DMK organising secretary and Rajya Sabha MP RS Bharathi said the BJP’s strategy of facing the Lok Sabha poll together with a united AIADMK will boomerang on them rather than affecting its prospects.
“In this post-Jayalalithaa era, it is very obvious that the BJP is completely operating the AIADMK. So they can force a unification. However, we are sure that this will fall flat,” Bharathi told HT.
Professor Ramu Manivannan, head, department of politics and public administration in Madras University, said the BJP is facing some hurdles in merging the two factions.
“When we see the day-long grilling of Vijayabhaskar by the CBI in Chennai and the I-T interrogating Sasikala at Parappana Agrahara prison, it a clear indication that it is putting pressure on both AIADMK and AMMK for a merger. However, both the factions might be having some demands that have to be met and the BJP appears to be unable to resolve the contradictions between them,” he told HT.
