Three AIADMK MLAs meet FM in Coimbatore after party breaks alliance with BJP

A major controversy has risen after three AIADMK MLAs met Nirmala Sitharaman in Coimbatore. One of the MLAs said he had gone to meet the finance minister over issues pertaining to his constituency. Meanwhile, Edappadi Palaniswami said that the decision to break AIADMK's alliance with BJP was taken by the two crore party cadres.

Chennai: Three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Coimbatore on Tuesday while party general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami said that the decision to snap ties with the BJP in Tamil Nadu has been taken by two crore party cadres.

AIADMK MLAs Amul Kandasamy, Pollachi Jayaraman and AK Selvaraj met Sitharaman during the latter's visit to Coimbatore to attend various programmes. Vanathi Srinivasan, BJP MLA was also present on the occasion. This was the first meeting with AIADMK MLAs after the party withdrew from its alliance with BJP.

After the meeting, Pollachi Jayaraman said, "This is not a political meeting. The main issue in my constituency is agriculture. So I came here to take up the demand of coconut farmers of my constituency. This meeting has nothing to do with the alliance. Whatever decision is taken on the alliance, it is for Palaniswami to say."

At the Credit Outreach Programme in Coimbatore, Sitharaman handed over sanction letters from banks to beneficiaries under various central schemes. Loans worth Rs 3,748 crore were disbursed to over one lakh beneficiaries.

Earlier on September 25, after a high-level meeting with MPs and district secretaries of AIADMK in Chennai, deputy general secretary KP Munuswamy read out a resolution stating, "AIADMK withdraws from National Democratic Alliance as per the wish of two crore party members".

Speaking at the booth committee meeting yesterday, Palaniswami reiterated that the AIADMK-BJP alliance was broken following a decision of two crore party members.

BJP state president Annamalai, who participated in the 'En Man En Makkal' padayatra in Coimbatore had said that "the party leadership will formally announce the matter". After which, Annamalai visited Delhi on Sunday and held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and Sitharaman. During this meeting, discussions were held on BJP's expansion in Tamil Nadu.