Tamil Nadu’s Chief Deputy Minister O Paneerselvam said Saturday night that the alliance of his party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will continue for the 2021 Assembly elections.
“The AIADMK-BJP alliance will continue for the 2021 assembly elections,” Paneerselvam said at a function hosted for Amit Shah in Chennai, where the Union Interior Minister inaugurated infrastructure projects. The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are expected to take place between April and May next year.
Shah is on a two-day visit to Chennai, where he is scheduled to hold a crucial meeting with BJP officials and party district chairmen.
The AIADMK-BJP alliance has become strained after the latter’s Vetrivel Yatra (victorious march of the spear). The state government has denied permission citing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, calling it “divisive” by the AIADMK spokesperson. However, BJP members have continued the yatra through Tamil Nadu since November 6, courting arrests and later released.
A crucial consultative meeting was also held on Friday, the day before Shah’s visit, where the BJP showed its reluctance to accept Prime Minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) as a candidate for the main post in the Assembly elections of 2021, a party leader said on condition of anonymity.
Last month, after days of struggle for internal power, Paneerselvam had officially announced Palaniswami as the AIADMK’s top ministerial candidate.
Meanwhile, Shah took to Twitter to thank the city for its love and support.
“It is always great to be in Tamil Nadu. Thank you Chennai for this love and support, ”he said in a tweet accompanying a video clip of his walk down GST Road.
Shad had visited Tamil Nadu in August 2019 to publish a book on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s two years in office.
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