Open to tie-ups with old friends in TN, says PM Modi

CHENNAI: Less than a month after DMK president M K Stalin proposed Rahul Gandhi as the united opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, PM Narendra Modi on Thursday indicated that his party is open to an alliance with “old friends,” which includes the DMK.

This was in reply to a question posed by a party member on whether BJP would ally with AIADMK, Rajnikanth or DMK. “We cherish our old friends and our doors are always open for parties,” Modi said during a teleconference with party members in Tamil Nadu as part of the ‘My booth is a strong booth’ programme. Both AIADMK and DMK have been BJP’s allies at the Centre in the past.

Modi’s statement surprised many, including DMK, as it came hardly four weeks after Stalin, sharing the dais with Sonia, Rahul, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and CPM’s Pinarayi Vijayan in Chennai on December 16, called Modi a “Nazist, fascist and a sadist leader”.

Congress never cared for regional aspirations, Modi said. “Congress ill-treated regional parties, regional aspirations and regional people because they felt they alone have the right to be in power. In one of their party meetings, they even passed a resolution that they do not want an alliance,” he said.

Thursday’s was the fourth round of interaction in Tamil Nadu when Modi interacted with party members from the Lok Sabha constituencies of Arakkonam, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode and Cuddalore.