Chennai: Conscious of the consequences of taking on the BJP which is attempting to outsmart its Dravidian ally as the alternative to the ruling DMK, former Chief Minister EPS, heading the dominant faction of the AIADMK on Tuesday warned party senior functionaries against making any critical remarks against the saffron ally.
“BJP has not imposed its will on the AIADMK. It has never dictated what we should do or not. Neither has it interfered with our internal affairs. For the coming Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK will head the alliance and the leadership will take care of seat-sharing negotiations and how many seats should be allotted to the allies.
Party functionaries should stop abusing the BJP. They should rather concentrate on strengthening the party right from the booths in the villages,” EPS has told a meeting of district secretaries in Chennai.
According to sources, it was decided not to up the ante on the alliance front till the case challenging the general council was decided by the supreme court. And EPS' warning was to rein in some of his colleagues like the OBC Vanniyar strongman Ce Ve Shanmugam, a strident critic of the BJP, and D Jayakumar, both former ministers against upsetting the present apple cart.
In the Dravidian parties, the District secretaries are resourceful regional satraps and they have voiced against any rapprochement with the minor faction headed by expelled leader O Panneerselvam (OPS). Party veteran Dindigul C Srinivasan was dismissive of OPS claim to be a leader. Though OPS is widely perceived to be very close to the BJP, EPS and others who spoke at the meeting accused OPS of playing ball to the DMK, sparring the BJP, the sources added.
Emerging from the meeting, Jayakumar said, “OPS is the B-Team of the DMK. He can team up with Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran to form an alliance with the DMK.” Significantly, EPS has passed this gag order after BJP state president K Annamalai's recent remark at a party conclave that the national party was also actively considering the option of contesting the LS polls alone.
In Annamalai's view, the BJP by going it alone in the civic polls had come third in terms of vote share and hence, the party workers should also be prepared to face the elections on its own. Further, he has been maintaining that the party would send 25 MPs from the state this time.
It is a tall claim, widely seen as a move to enhance its bargaining with the AIADMK. For, in the view of the BJP, OPS is amenable while EPS is a hard bargainer. It was very much evident during the negotiations with Union Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections in the state.
The AIADMK leadership is also aware of the BJP focusing on certain constituencies with high profile visits which include Union Ministers and party national president JP Nadda, who was in Coimbatore on Tuesday. It had been concentrating its energies on the Nilgiris as well. Hence, EPS treading cautiously without antagonising the NDA partner. Already the OBC Vanniyar dominant PattaliMakkal Katchi has snapped its ties with the AIADMK. As such, it cannot afford to confront the BJP at this juncture and EPS knows that too well.
