AIADMK Will Not ‘Piggyback’ BJP to Gain Ground in TN: Thambidurai

AIADMK has agreed with BJP on some issues in the past, but it didn’t endorse the latter’s ideology, he said.

M Thambidurai. 

(Photo Courtesy: Lok Sabha Website)

Dismissing all rumours, AIADMK propaganda secretary and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai on Thursday, 17 January, declared that the party would not allow the BJP to “piggyback” ride on its shoulders, in the former’s attempt to establish its presence in Tamil Nadu, The Hindu reported.

Thambidurai’s statement comes amid rumours of a possible AIADMK-BJP tie-up, after RSS idealogue and Tuglak Editor S Gurumurthy said that a AIADMK-BJP alliance would help the latter gain ground in the state, the report added.

“What sin has the AIADMK committed to carry the BJP on its shoulders? There is no scope for the BJP to establish itself in the State.”

Thambidurai, as reported by <i>The Hindu </i>

Although he reluctantly admitted that his party harboured the same opinions as the BJP on a number of issues, it doesn’t mean that they are endorsing the BJP’s viewpoint.

Expressing that AIADMK had its own personal set of ideologies, far removed from that of the BJP, he added: “The AIADMK agrees with the BJP on certain issues but at the same time, it is not endorsing or accepting whatever is proposed by the BJP,” The Hindu reported.

Thambidurai was speaking at an event commemorating the 102nd birth anniversary of former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran in Coimbatore, where he also addressed the controversial Kodanad estate-related developments.

Terming the allegations against AIADMK in connection with the incident, where there was a break-in at Jayalalitha’s Kodanad estate in 2017, a “well-orchestrated drama”, he said there was no truth to the claims and that it was a plan by the Opposition parties to defame and destabilise the AIADMK, the report added.

He also commented on DMK President M K Stalin attending the Mega Opposition Rally hosted by TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, and said that Stalin and other DMK leaders were waiting for the elections to get over, so that they could figure out what kind of alliance they should form with the party that comes to power in the Centre.

(With inputs from The Hindu)