The head of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, L Murugan, claimed on Monday that his party’s alliance with the AIADMK continues and that the ties are “strong”, a day after the ruling party told its ally Saffron that it was the older brother in the state. His comments came shortly after his meeting with AIADMK chief minister and governing coordinator K Palaniswami here today.
Murugan said that he had asked the chief minister to implement the Center’s New Education Policy and that he had presented his party’s signature campaign containing 50 lakh of signatures on the issue. The Tamil Nadu government had previously said that it will only follow the two-language formula: Tamil and English, in vogue for decades, and will not opt for three languages as envisaged in NEP 2020, which includes Hindi.
Murugan evaded a direct question about AIADMK’s refusal to share power with the allies if it came to power, but said that “the BJP’s alliance with AIADMK continued and remained strong.” “You will know the answers for all the queries in two to three days,” he replied when asked to comment on AIADMK’s position that the BJP cannot be accommodated in government if the alliance wins the 2021 Assembly elections.
At his first electoral rally here, ruling AIADMK bluntly told his ally BJP on Sunday that he cannot be accommodated in government if he wins the assembly elections, to be held next year, and claimed that the saffron party will can leave a mark on the heart of Dravidian Tamil Nadu.
The BJP has to back the candidacy of Prime Minister K Palaniswami for the post of CM for the polls, indicated the AIADMK and wanted his partner to accept his other terms such as non-participation in the government and if not rethink his electoral options for 2021. On Monday, Murugan lashed out at the DMK led by MK Stalin for “duplicity” in the NEP.
It alleged that the schools run by the “DMK family encourage the learning of four or five languages.” “But when it comes to public schools, that party does not want students to learn an additional language,” said the BJP president, lashing out at the Dravidian major for his outspoken opposition to the alleged imposition of Hindi and insistence that Tamil Nadu it should follow only the two language formula. Meanwhile, AIADMK’s senior leader and state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said his party will forge electoral ties only with those who accepted Palaniswami as the top ministerial candidate for the 2021 elections.
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