AIADMK is upset that BJP uses MG Ramachandran together with PM Modi in a video.
Chennai:
Days after its defiant “vetrivel yatra” in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has given the ruling AIADMK, its ally, more cause for anguish. The party is reportedly upset that the BJP used its iconic founder MG Ramachandran alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a campaign video.
MG Ramachandran, aka “MGR,” co-stars with PM Modi in the BJP campaign video for Vetrivel yatra, which became a flash point earlier this week.
Despite the AIADMK government banning the yatra over Covid concerns, the BJP put out a truncated version anyway, even courting arrest. The BJP said its rally, an annual exercise, was against what it called the anti-Hindu agenda of some parties.
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#_#__pic.twitter.com/Yq9yJPOSk9– BJP Tamilnadu (@ BJP4TamilNadu) November 5, 2020
“When it comes to Vel yatra, we are not even a little afraid of the center. Our ideologies are different … We want Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and all that. We want communal harmony,” said C Ponnaiyan , a senior Leader of AIADMK.
The state government has now also canceled its previous permit for gatherings of up to 100 people, prompting an angry reaction from the BJP.
“Hundreds of AIADMK workers were with Chief Minister E Palaniswami in Vellore today as he traveled to Tirupati. Did the police take action? He must first bring a case against the Chief Minister. Did he file a case,” demanded KT Raghavan, BJP state general secretary.
The AIADMK is regarded by the BJP as a friendly party and has helped the government push through legislation through Rajya Sabha in parliament, where the opposition has an advantage.
But the party is far from flattered by what it calls the BJP’s appropriation of its icon, perhaps in the hope that the goodwill and popularity enjoyed by the movie star-turned-politician will rub off.
Tamil Nadu will vote for a new government in less than six months. This will be the first state election after the death of the highest leaders of the two main rival parties, J Jayalalithaa of AIADMK and M Karunanidhi of DMK, and the BJP feels an opportunity to try to create their space in an important state in the part southern part of the country, where the ruling party remains largely a supporting player, except in Karnataka.
MGR, who founded the AIADMK in 1972, is among the party’s most revered figures. Jayalalitha, another prominent personality who ruled the party and state government for many years, was his co-star in movies and protégé in politics.
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