Raja said state was becoming the hub of Islamic terrorist training
BJP national secretary Dr Tamilisaisoundararajan, executive member H. Raja and state president Pon Radhakrishnan at a meeting of state office-bearers. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: BJP national secretary H. Raja has claimed his party “enjoys tremendous public goodwill” and would perform well in the local bodies byelections on Thursday “despite the money and muscle power” of the rivals.
Speaking to DC amid his hectic campaigning, Raja said Tamil Nadu was becoming the hub of Islamic terrorist training and urged the government to take tough measures to deal with the situation. Excerpts from the interview:
Q) You have been campaigning hard. Does Modi’s 100 days performance gel with the rural electorate as much as the state government's achievements?
A) People are showing enthusiasm in supporting the BJP. But we are fighting against money and muscle power. We have been urging the people to elect the BJP for good governance.
Q) Your party campaigners have been very critical of the state ruling party but Union minister Ravishankar Prasad has claimed that the BJP and AIADMK governments share convergence of interests on many issues.
A) Having good rapport with the state government and fighting the local bodies elections are different issues. Modiji wants good ties between Centre and all the states.
Q) Will not the state BJP criticism jeopardise the smooth ties between BJP leadership and AIADMK, especially when talks are doing the rounds about the two parties warming up for 2016 Assembly polls?
A) I can’t say anything now.
Q) AIADMK seems to have an edge in these polls?
A) There is tremendous goodwill for the Modi government among the people. The BJP had emerged second in Tamil Nadu with 19 per cent vote share in the April Lok Sabha elections. We are on the growth graph here.
Q) Your Tirunelveli mayoral candidate Vellaiammal has joined the AIADMK and you are now left with Coimbatore and Thoothukudi mayoral posts to take on the AIADMK.
A) We are the major players. Our party’s C.P. Radhakrishnan finished second in the Lok Sabha elections despite the AIADMK having an upper hand in rural areas. We are confident of winning more seats now.
The local body byelections are biased. Our candidate in Pudukkottai was prevented from filing nomination papers.
Many of our candidates were attacked. Before nominations, the returning officers asked our candidates to download the forms. But these forms were in variance with the actual forms distributed at the RO’s office and the ROs rejected them.
( Source : dc )
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