Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and chief of the Republican Party of India (A) Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party had “no role” in his call to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam of T.T.V. Dhinakaran to come together.

Mr. Athawale told The Hindu over the phone: “I have not even discussed the matter with the BJP. No one from that party has asked me to issue any such statement.” He added: “It was my own initiative.”

Common ground

Explaining the reason behind his floating the idea, the Union Minister replied that both members and leaders of the AIADMK and the AMMK were “followers of [former Chief Minister] Jayalalithaa. When Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam could come together after remaining in rival camps for a few months, what is the problem for the AIADMK and Mr. Dhinakaran to come together?”

Besides, being a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, it was “my responsibility” to strengthen the NDA, as the Telugu Desam Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party had left the Alliance. This was why he wanted the unified AIADMK to join the NDA. In such an eventuality, the State too would benefit as it would receive more development projects if the NDA returned to power after the Lok Sabha polls.

He added that he had made the suggestion “in the interests of Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK. It is up to them to accept it or not.”

The leader of the RPI (A), now a member of the Rajya Sabha and formerly three-time Member of the Lok Sabha (1998-99, 1999-2004 and 2004-09), called Mr. Dhinakaran “a good friend of mine,” as he and the AMMK leader were MPs at one point of time. Also, he knew Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, M. Thambi Durai, for long.

To another question whether the 10% quota for economically weaker sections of the general category would not come in the way of the AIADMK becoming an ally of the BJP, the Union Minister replied in the negative and said there would be no “adverse impact” on the reservation for Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.