May 14, 2019
Chennai : Is BJP showing signs of nervousness or trying to cast its net wide for support in the post poll scenario? BJP Tamil Nadu unit chief Tamilisai Soundarrajan claimed that DMK president MK Stalin was in talks with the BJP.
Her statement exposed the nervousness as also was an admission that the BJP and its allies were falling short of the magic mark and were looking for support ahead of declaration of results of Lok Sabha general elections on May 23. Political analysts are convinced that her statement, coming after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao met Stalin for an hour on Monday, exposed her party’s worry that it might not secure the requisite numbers to form the government.
DMK leaders dismissed her statement and said that it only showed how scared the BJP was and to what extent it was going to get support from any place they could. Her statement is another give away that the BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu along with AIADMK was going to perform very badly.
For the present, the DMK is sitting pretty and the political analysts are in agreement that the DMK alliance could win over 30 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.
It is to wean the DMK away from Congress that Telangana CM called on Stalin. Ostensibly, KCR was trying to rope in Stalin into the non-Congress and non-BJP formation, which was rejected by Stalin.
Sources are indicating that KCR could also be using DMK as a bridge between him and the Congress in the eventuality Congress emerging stronger after the elections.
KCR could win a sizeable chunk of the 17 seats in the state and had also teamed up with Jaganmohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh who is also expected to win majority of the 25 seats the state has to offer.
Stalin described KCR’s visit as a courtesy call and told media persons that he had come visiting temples in Tamil Nadu and had expressed an intent to meet him as well. He made it clear that his meeting with KCR was not for formation of a third front.