BJP will be party of masses in Tamil Nadu: State in-charge

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary and in-charge of the party's Tamil Nadu unit, CT Ravi told IANS that the BJP will become a party of the masses. He said there are only two ways to become a mass party: first service and secondly andolan (agitation) and the party is working on both. 

"We have identified local issues and it will be addressed by local leadership and secondly we are working to provide better service to the people. The BJP is reaching out to the electorate by addressing issues concerning them with a long and short term approach," he said. 

Talking about the party's expansion plans in the state, Ravi said that for the 69,000 booths in the state, the BJP has constituted over 60,000 booth committees and among these over 45,000 booth committees are active. "People from all walks of life are joining BJP. In future we will have BJP MLAs and MPs from Tamil Nadu from a party of zero MP and MLA from the state. Coming out in support of the Prime Minister despite trends run by DMK and other political rivals," he said. 

On seat sharing with the AIADMK, Ravi said that it (seat sharing) will be decided by the central leadership in consultation with alliance partners. "We have identified 60, 'A' category seats but our focus is to ensure 100 per cent strike rate on seats the BJP is going to contest in the assembly polls," he said. 

Ravi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental agenda also helped the party in expanding its footprint in Tamil Nadu. "Modi government has given development projects worth over Rs 6.10 lakh crore to the state directly benefiting 1.60 crore people of the state. With his developmental agenda, Prime Minister Modi has connected New Delhi to Tamil Nadu and it is a connection of hearts. He (Modi) turned a relationship of enmity into a relationship of love. Initiatives of the Modi government helped the organisation (BJP) to make inroads among Tamil people," he added. 

Ravi stated that Modi talked about many things related to Tamil heritage, culture, literature. "Modiji has showcased Mahabalipuram on the world stage while Congress had showcased Mughal structures," he added.