Chennai: Admitting that the RK Nagar byelection has been a “temporary setback” for the BJP, party president Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan has claimed that the defeat in the by-poll will not retard her party from emerging victorious in the future.
“This is but a transient setback for the BJP. The votes polled for the Dravidian parties were not for any ideology or the development plank on which the BJP faced the poll…The BJP alone is capable of ushering in change and the party will surely get the support from the people,” she said. “Let’s take a pledge to march towards victory overcoming this temporary setback,” she urged her party members.
Taking strong exception to those criticising the BJP for its performance in the byelection, she said such criticism without understanding the “truth is unjust.” “It is normal for one to issue paper as token. But in the RK Nagar election, currency note was given as token,” she said referring to the large-scale distribution of money to voters in the city’s constituency.
Reacting to DK leader K. Veeramani’s remark that the by-election signified an end to the BJP’s dream of capturing power in TN, she retorted, “the DMK which he supports, has seen a decline in its vote share from 33 per cent to 13 per cent. Can this be construed as curtains down to the DMK’s dream of capturing power?”
Similarly, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan who has miserably failed to garner votes for the DMK which he supported, forgets the fact that his VCK could not poll any votes but he seemed to speak in praise of AIADMK rebel leader T. T. V. Dhinakaran (who won the election).
“DMK working president M. K. Stalin should ponder over Dhinakaran’s proclamation that he is late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s political heir. Also, people should remember that Dhinakaran won for his political gains but not to serve the people of his constituency,” she pointed out.
