Thrissur: A former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP and 15 former MLAs from across parties joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a function in Delhi Wednesday.
The party leaders who crossed over were from DMK, the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Congress.
Apart from the DMK’s former Chidambaram MP V. Kulandaivelu, its ex-MLA S. Gurunathan also joined the BJP. But it was the AIADMK, which broke its alliance with the BJP last September, that was dealt the biggest blow, with as many as 12 former representatives — including former minister and three-time MLA Gomathi Srinivasan — jumping ship.
Other former MLAs that joined the party were K. Vadivel (Karur); R. Duraisamy, popularly called Challenger Durai (Coimbatore South); P.S. Kandasamy (Aravakurichi); M.V. Rathinam (Pollachi); R Chinnasamy (Singanallur); V.R. Jayaraman (Theni); S.M. Vasan (Vedasandur); P.S. Arul (Bhuvanagiri); R. Rajendran (Kattumannarkoil); Selvi Murugesan (Kangeyam); and A. Rokini (Kolathur).
The remaining two members are MLA R. Thangaraju, formerly from the Congress, and K. Tamilagan from the DMDK.
Union Information Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar shared a video of the event on the social media platform X.
“Welcoming my colleagues and friends from Tamil Nadu to the world’s largest political party — BJP. This scale of joining points to the growing popularity & support for PM Narendra Modi ji and his governance ideology of #SabkaSaath #SabkaVikas, #SabkaPrayas and #SabkaVishwas. Tamil Nadu will contribute significantly to NDA’s 400 seats victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he wrote.
State BJP Chief K. Annamalai, who addressed a press conference after the event, said this was the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu that 16 former representatives were joining the party.
“Today is a very great occasion for BJP Tamil Nadu, where very esteemed members from every political party joined the party. They have seen the happenings in our country for the past nine years, and they have decided in the 2024 election, our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is going to come to power for the third time with a resounding mandate. All the new joinees decided to strengthen the hand of Modi ji in the state of Tamil Nadu.”
The development comes months before the general election. Significantly, of Tamil Nadu’s 39 parliamentary seats, the DMK-led alliance — which includes the Congress — won 38 in 2019.
This time around, PM Modi has claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will win 400 seats in the upcoming election.
“I can gauge the mood of the nation, it will definitely give NDA more than 400 seats and the BJP at least 370 seats,” the PM said, replying to the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address earlier this week.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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