Will toe party line on ties with BJP, says AIADMK's Shanmugam

AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam on Thursday said he was bound by the party leadership's decision on continuing the alliance with Assembly poll partner BJP.

After the AIADMK brass asserted that the alliance formed by it with the BJP and others for the April 6 Assembly polls continued, Shanmugam, a former Minister, said he and others were bound by that decision of the leadership.

Top leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami on Wednesday made the clarification following Shanmugam's remark that the tie-up with BJP led to AIADMK's debacle in the polls. Saffron party functionaries had joined the issue with Shanmugam for his comment at an AIADMK meet on July 6. Shanmugam, reiterating that his view on AIADMK losing Assembly polls vis-a-vis the BJP was a "personal comment," told reporters that though leaders including him may air their individual views, they were eventually bound by the decision of the leadership.

In a statement, AIADMK leaders had said, "there need not be any doubt that the alliance formed for the 2021 Assembly polls continues and that all of us will stand shoulder to shoulder and work for the growth of Tamil Nadu."

The AIADMK won 66 seats, its allies PMK five and BJP four while DMK emerged victorious in 133 segments in the 234 member Assembly and captured power. DMK allies, Congress won 18 seats, VCK four and Left parties a total of four seats.