The Bharatiya Janata Party will decide on its coalition partner in Tamil Nadu for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections post September, party national president Amit Shah said while addressing party workers in Chennai on Tuesday.
The party is looking for allies to broaden its support base in Tamil Nadu. The saffron party has been feeling a a strain in ties with several allies. To extent Shah said the party will give “respect” to the party’s existing partners and also look to bring in “new friends”.
He mentioned a list of initiatives taken by the central government in Tamil Nadu in the past four years and urged the cadre and people of the state to question what erstwhile non-BJP governments had done for the people of the state.
“Schemes totalling Rs 5.10 lakh crore were initiated in the past four years by the Narendra Modi government in Tamil Nadu … those opposing the BJP in the state are obliged to elaborate on what they have done for the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The party has held discussion on its strengths and identified constituencies where more efforts are needed.
The BJP had tried to rope in superstar Rajinikanth but without success. The state’s ruling AIADMK, which has taken a hit following the death of its charismatic leader J Jayalalithaa, is being seen as attempting to cosy up to the BJP.
Without naming the main opposition in Tamil Nadu—the DMK – Shah said it had started a “disinformation campaign” on the issue of “Tamil pride”.