Annamalai needs to work hard to secure deposit, NDA will score zero seats, says Periyasamy

CHENNAI: BJP leader K Annamalai may manage to secure deposit in Coimbatore, but NDA will end up with “zero seats,” said state BJP’s SC wing ex-president TADA D Periyasamy, who joined AIADMK on being denied ticket for Chidambaram seat. In an interview to Shanmugha Sundaram J, he said that senior BJP leaders denied him ticket to facilitate an easy victory for VCK chief:

Q.What forced you to quit the BJP after serving it for two decades?

•I joined the BJP in 2004 after severing ties with Thol Thirumavalavan and served the party in various capacities. I worked hard to establish the party base in my region when it was not popular like these days. After promising a ticket to contest, the party leadership overlooked me and fielded a candidate from Vellore to undermine my leadership quality. It was the handiwork of BJP organising secretary Kesava Vinayagam, senior leaders Pon Radhakrishnan and L Murugan.

Q.Why do they want to field a weak candidate against Thirumavalavan, who vehemently opposes the BJP and its Hindutva ideology?

•The three have good personal rapport with Thirumavalavan, who is scared to face me in the electoral front. There is a strong dislike against Thirumavalavan, who did nothing for the constituency despite being elected twice from there. I learnt that Thiruma reached out to Radhakrishnan and the two others to remove me from the equation of Chidambaram constituency to facilitate his victory. But, I will work hard for the party (AIADMK) candidate and give a tough fight to the opponent camp. I confidently say that 2 per cent vote shifted in favour of the AIADMK candidate after I joined the party. I will take up an intensive campaign from April 4 to improve the voting percentage and winning possibilities of the AIADMK candidates in my region, particularly in Chidambaram constituency.

Q.So, you quit the BJP for not getting a seat to contest the Lok Sabha polls?

•It is beyond that. I was the state president of the SC wing of the party for two years and native of the constituency. I have put a lot of effort into the growth of the party in the region. But, they never considered all these and disrespected my leadership and hard work. If I had put the effort in the AIADMK, I would have been a leader like A Raja of the DMK from the marginalised section. So, I want to teach them a lesson for rejecting me.

Q.Why did you choose the AIADMK?

•There is not much difference between the AIADMK and the BJP ideology that prioritises nationalism and spiritualism. Hence, I choose to join the AIADMK to continue my political journey without compromising on my ideology and conviction on nationalism.

Q.The state and national leadership of the BJP are positioning themselves as the prime opposition to the DMK. It also succeeded in forming an alliance by roping in the PMK and many other political outfits. What is your view?

•It is far away from ground reality. All these years, the BJP leaders choose to play second fiddle to Dravidian parties. Now, Annamalai is trying to set a narrative and project BJP as an alternative for Dravidian politics. This showed the real picture that the Dravidian ideology is deep rooted in the state and it is difficult to penetrate even if the BJP sustains its effort for the next 10 to 15 years.

On alliance, it is an optic and it will not have any positive impact in the electoral front as no political party in NDA matches the DMK and the AIADMK. They have strong organisational structure and election machinery like booth committees in all the 234 constituencies. On the other hand, the BJP has booth level committees in less than 20 per cent of the booths in the state. Many of them exist only on papers.

Q.The BJP is confident of winning a significant number of seats in TN in this LS polls. What is your view?

•They will get zero seats in the April 19 polls. It is not even possible in 2031. I am telling this, as I know the ground reality and the state politics. Even Annamalai, who is a popular leader, has to work hard and go the extra mile to secure his deposit in Coimbatore, which is considered as one of the strongholds of the BJP. Similarly, Pon Radhakrishnan will end up losing Kanniyakumari, which is also considered as the party’s stronghold. We cannot say much about others.

Apart from this, the factionalism in the BJP will pose a serious challenge and Annamalai himself finding it difficult to survive in such a political climate in the party. They never allow others to grow. For instance, L Murugan never allows others like me from the SC community to grow beyond him, while Radhakrishnan, Kesava Vinayagam and a few other leaders are no different. So, they fight within themselves and there is no hope of BJP’s growth here.

Q.What about PM Narendra Modi and his popularity among the Tamil people?

•He is a good leader. The BJP’s TN unit has failed to take forward Modi’s schemes to the public due to absence of grass root level workers. Apart from this, Dravidian leaders like (Thanthai) Periyar, Anna (CN Annadurai) had created a long lasting impact on the society. So, it is very difficult to override it and popularise Modi in TN.