Former AIADMK minister blames BJP alliance for Assembly poll defeat

C Ve Shanmugam, who was the Law Minister in the AIADMK regime, has said the party’s alliance with BJP cost it the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Shanmugam, once a staunch loyalist of V K Sasikala before joining the camp of the former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, said the AIADMK government had a good image among the people. “People wanted us to come back to power. But many reasons defeated us including minority votes…” he said at a rally near his home district of Villupuram on Tuesday.

“Our calculations went wrong, especially in the representation of minorities. Due to the alliance with BJP, we lost all minority votes,” he said.

He said the DMK wouldn’t have made a comeback had the scenario been different.

With Shanmugam’s statement embarrassing the BJP leadership in Tamil Nadu, former deputy chief minister Panneerselvam issued a statement Wednesday stating: “AIADMK has full faith in BJP and Modi”.

“Considering the interest of the nation and the future of TN, the AIADMK-BJP alliance will continue and there is no second opinion on this,” Panneerselvam tweeted.

A section of AIADMK leaders supporting Panneerselvam felt Shanmugam’s remarks were unwarranted. But multiple leaders in the Palaniswami camp said the statement was a fact.

“The only question is why did he make this statement now? Otherwise nobody can contest the fact that he stated,” said a former AIADMK minister.

Sharing a news report about Shanmugam’s statement, BJP leader Khushbu Sundar stated on social media that “actually it’s the other way around”

OPS son miss out on Cabinet Minister post, murmurs in his camp

Meanwhile, the Panneerselvam camp is upset as it had expectations of getting a cabinet post for P Ravindranath Kumar, son of Panneerselvam, in the Union Cabinet reshuffle, according to sources. Kumar, known for making several pro-BJP statements, was the only AIADMK member to win from Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Former CM Palaniswami, who has complete control over the party, and former minister D Jayakumar were among the group in AIADMK which had strong disagreements over Panneerslevam’s personal efforts to get a Cabinet Minister post for his son in the NDA government.