New Delhi: Thirteen members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT Cell in Tamil Nadu quit on Wednesday (March 8), saying they were following the lead of former state IT wing chief C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, who had earlier quit the BJP and joined the AIADMK. He had accused the BJP’s leadership in the state of working against the interests of its own cadres
Last week, five BJP leaders including Nirmal Kumar and state party secretary Dilip Kannan had resigned and joined the AIADMK. The AIADMK is in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the national level.
Among those who quit on Wednesday was Orathi Anbarasu, IT wing chief of the party’s Chennai west unit, The Indian Express reported. He said in a statement explaining his resignation that he had been in the BJP for a long time and did not want to fall prey to “conspiracies ” in the party.
BJP state president K. Annamalai, while accusing the AIADMK of “poaching leaders”, also said that this was proof that the BJP had “arrived” in Tamil Nadu. He also claimed that no important leaders had left the party – only second- and third-rung leaders.
“There are possibilities of some big leaders leaving BJP and big leaders coming to the party after three months,” he said.
The AIADMK has denied allegations of poaching.