Formal splitsville for AIADMK, BJP

CHENNAI: What began as a squabble has formally resulted in separation after the AIADMK officially declared ending its five-year alliance with the Centre-ruling BJP and exiting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Sources in the AIADMK said general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami told the senior leaders who gathered at the party headquarters on Monday that there would be no alliance with the BJP henceforth. “We will face come what may,” he told the leaders, apparently hinting at the cases against at least half a dozen party leaders, including himself.

The resolution that AIADMK deputy general secretary KP Munusamy read out after the meeting squarely blamed BJP’s State president K Annamalai as the reason for the split.

“For the last one year, the State president of BJP has been intentionally speaking ill against our party leaders Perarignar Anna (CN Annadurai) and Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (J Jayalalithaa) with an ulterior motive, besides criticising our ideology,” reads the resolution that was adopted unanimously.

Annamalai demeaned the party’s golden jubilee conference, ‘Ezhuchi Manadu’ organised in Madurai on August 20, and continued his tirade against party general secretary Palaniswami, which infuriated the party cadre, it said.

“The AIADMK is pulling out of the BJP and the NDA,” the resolution said. After reading out the resolution, Munusamy said the party would form an alliance under its leadership for the Lok Sabha elections.

As the party functionaries celebrated with crackers and sweets, and raised slogans hailing Palaniswami, senior leader OS Manian said the decision reflected the cadre’s wishes.

Disclosing the events that unfolded inside the closed-door meeting, party insiders said Palaniswami asked them to take forward the message that AIADMK severed its ties with the saffron party forever. “He asked us to reach out to the minorities to win back their confidence. The functionaries were told to intensify campaigns in their respective districts and tell the people, particularly minorities, that AIADMK will never, ever form an alliance with the BJP,” said the source.

He added that district secretaries and senior leaders who spoke before the resolution was adopted were unanimous in seeking to end the partnership.

There was nothing sudden in the decision, as the relationship between the two parties deteriorated ever since Annamalai took over as the State unit president. His bitter war of words with the AIADMK leaders often escalated to trading personal attacks – in one such instance, Annamalai said C Ve Shanmugham was a ‘collection’ minister, while D Jayakumar said the BJP was a burden that the AIADMK was carrying. It finally reached a point where the question was not about whether or not the partners would split, but only when it would happen.

In a last-ditch attempt to salvage the ties, Palaniswami had earlier this week deputed a team of leaders to meet the BJP high command to persuade it to replace Annamalai. This, however, was rejected by the national party.