AIADMK - BJP blame each other for the defeat in TN assembly polls

The BJP state general secretary KT Raghavan and party treasurer SR Sekhar has hit back at the AIADMK leader for his comments. “We too feel the same” tweeted Raghavan responding to the comments of Shanmugam. He also told the media that the BJP would respond officially if these comments were from AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam or Edappadi K Palaniswami. 

Responding to the AIADMK leader, BJP state treasurer SR Shekhar told DT Next that the former minister Shanmugham is trying to hide his failure to perform in the polls. The former minister is trying to create confusion in the alliance. “If Shanmugham had reservations about the alliance he should have refrained from contesting the polls. BJP cannot be accounted for his defeat in Villupuram. The fact is that the AIADMK swept the entire Kongu region because of its alliance with BJP, which is formidable in western Tamil Nadu, Shekar said. He also demanded the AIADMK leaders clarify on the issue as the comments of Shanmugham has been made public. 

The AIADMK is now holding back-to-back meetings at the district level to review the reasons for losing the recently held assembly polls. During the party internal meeting at Vannur in Villupuram, Shanmugham told his supporters that the party lost in the district as the traditional minority voters moved away from the AIADMK. The public wanted the AIADMK regime to continue, but it was the alliance arithmetic that failed us in the polls helping the DMK, Shanmugham said. 

Former minister Nilofar Kafeel who was expelled from the AIADMK after the party loss also blamed the BJP for the party’s poor performance in north Tamil Nadu including the Vellore region that comprises large Muslim voters. 

It may be noted that the opposition AIADMK has convened its district secretaries meeting on Friday to review and ascertain the reasons for the party’s defeat in the recent MLA election.