Former Law Minister C. Ve. Shanmugam’s statement that the AIADMK lost in the Assembly election because of its alliance with the BJP, “which alienated the minorities”, has taken BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu unit by surprise.
While they said the alliance would not be affected by his statement, some said the anti-incumbency sentiment had become a liability for the national party.
BJP State general secretary K.T. Raghavan said his party lost in many seats owing to the anti-incumbency sentiment against the AIADMK government.
‘Not right’
“We are ruling at the Centre and won 303 seats [in the 2019 Lok Sabha election], including the Muslim-dominated Meerut. We are in power in many States that have a minority population. The minorities have voted for the BJP. These statements made by Mr. Shanmugam are not right. In fact, the anti-incumbency sentiment against the AIADMK was a liability for us,” he told The Hindu.
According to him, many of the Prime Minister’s good works and achievements were undone by the anti-incumbency sentiment, and it contributed to the BJP’s defeat in many seats.
He said a senior leader and a former Minister should not have made such statements and it was incumbent upon the AIADMK leadership of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam to “control him”.
‘Good relations’
BJP vice-president K. Annamalai said his party had been dealing with the AIADMK’S coordinator and co-coordinator.
“Both have had very good relations with our party, and both parties worked hard for each other’s candidates. That is a fact,” Mr. Annamalai said.
He said the BJP did not collaborate with Mr. Shanmugam during the election. “We have been speaking to EPS [Mr. Palaniswami] and OPS [Mr. Panneerselvam]. I don’t think his statement will affect the local bodies elections,” he said.
Kushboo Sundar, who contested from Thousand Lights, shared a news report on Mr. Shanmugam’s remarks and tweeted: “Actually it’s the other way around”.