Chennai: There are no takers for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation for poll alliances, said Tamil Nadu Congress president Su. Thirunavukarasar on Wednesday while taking pot shots at the PM for announcing that the BJP doors are open for ties with even old allies.
While there were no takers for Modi's invite, parties have been "only walking out" of the NDA and at the same time, the Congress-led front has been getting stronger, the PCC chief told reporters here. He said his party's ties with the DMK "have only got more robust"-an obvious reference to DMK chief M K Stalin recently announcing that Rahul Gandhi would be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the UPA.
"PM Modi may keep the door open. But no party is prepared to go inside... be it in Tamil Nadu or in the rest of the country, there is no single party which has accepted his invite and joined hands with the BJP," he said.
Modi, during a recent interaction with the Tamil Nadu BJP workers, had said the BJP cherished its old friends. He had said the BJP was open to alliances following the path of Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had successfully built coalitions respecting regional aspirations. He also stressed the importance of connecting with the people to win polls.
While the DMK president Stalin mocked at Modi's 'doors-open' announcement and reiterated his party would never align with the BJP, the saffron party's state unit president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan hit back saying Stalin was "unnecessarily excited since the PM's invitation did not include his DMK".
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha had quit the NDA last month and resigned his post as Union minister of State, while the Asom Gana Parishad walked out of the alliance in Assam over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill row. A list of names for about six committees to carry out election-related work, including those for propaganda and selection of candidates, has been sent to Rahul Gandhi for announcing the party's poll panels for TN, Thirunavukkarasar said.
