Chennai: The BJP rally held at Maduranthakam on Friday turned out to be a show of NDA solidarity as well as a platform to assert the political positions by BJP and AIADMK.While PM Modi repeatedly mentioned that BJP – NDA govt would be formed in TN, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami who spoke earlier reiterated his stand of AIADMK govt. “NDA would win 210 seats in the assembly election. AIADMk will win majority of the seats and form the next govt,” he said in the presence of Modi.
EPS who shook hands with AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on the stage, held a joint press conference with him after the rally, stating that the two have joined hands forgetting the past differences. “I have made it clear that Dhinakaran and I will work together. We are the children raised by Amma (J Jayalalithaa). There were some differences of opinion between us. But the moment we came together, we forgot everything. Our stand, and his stand, is to take forward the work left behind by Amma,” he said. BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss were also present at the press conference. Dhinakaran echoed the view of EPS. “It was true that there was bitterness between us. This is our family issue. We were like children of the same mother, like a joint family,” he said. DHinakaran said Union home minister Amit Shah and PM Modi wanted him to work together with EPS. Shah tried to bring them together in 2021 but it did not work then, Dhinakaran said. “Shah later told me that Modi wanted us to stay together to defeat the DMK,” he said. “We are united again like brothers, just as we were until April 2017. We will speak with each other. We will campaign together. We will go together wherever it is needed. We have forgotten everything,” he said. At the public meeting too, DHinakaran said he has joined NDA `wholeheartedly accepting EPS.’Stating that alliances were built on shared political goals, EPS drew a parallel with MDMK leader Vaiko, once a critic of the DMK, now aligning with it. He said the Congress, which imposed the Emergency and jailed DMK leaders under MISA, was part of the DMK alliance now. Earlier, in his speech at the public meeting, EPS said the upcoming assembly election would end the corrupt and dynastic rule. He said corruption was spread across sectors and called for the removal of an “anti-people govt”. He concluded his speech with the slogan, “Bye bye, Stalin.” Anbumani Ramadoss said the rally signalled the end of the DMK govt. He alleged that the DMK fulfilled only 13% of its 505 poll promises but was lying to the people.
