Chennai: The BJP’s decision to go it alone this election has rendered the cadres enthusiastic towards striving for an alternative to the Dravidian majors in Tamil Nadu.
Even so, the party has not dropped plans to open up a channel of negotiation with Vijayakanth’s DMDK, despite having been cold-shouldered by that party earlier.
Summing up the feeling among the leaders and cadres in the party, Union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping Pon Radhakrishnan says the situation is not like it was in the past.
“There are nearly 60 per cent neutral voters who want change. They will usher in change this time,” he claims. He is among the various leaders in the party who believe that the BJP will bring about a change this time. “We never had such tremendous response to our call inviting MLA ticket aspirants from our party members as we witnessed this time.
Over 3,000 party members including several seniors had sought party tickets to contest. The list has been finalised and we are waiting for our high command’s approval to release it,” says M. Chakravarthy, BJP state vice president.
“It is not a question of being politically isolated. The DMDK has not aligned with the DMK and we see this as an opportunity to open up a channel of negotiation with Vijayakanth’s DMDK,” H. Raja party’s national secretary told a channel.
According to sources, the saffron party has sent feelers to the ‘captain’s’ party to explore the possibility of aligning with the BJP. “They had asked us: ‘what will you gain by contesting alone?’ We replied we are sailing in the same boat,” a BJP senior said.
