There is a sense of unease in the principal opposition party AIADMK, turning its re-entry into the BJP-led NDA a tenuous one after Union Home Minister and saffron strategist Amit Shah skipped AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as the Chief Ministerial face of the alliance and reiterated once again that it will be a coalition government in the Dravidian heartland.
This is the second time that Shah has made it clear that it will be an NDA government in which the BJP too will share power. He had made a similar statement while addressing the party’s core group meeting in Madurai on June 8, which caused tremors in the AIADMK, which had time and again ruled out the idea of a coalition government as unsuitable for Tamil Nadu.
Now, in an interview with a Tamil daily, he had not only asserted that it will be a coalition government of the NDA with the participation of the BJP, but also skipped the name of EPS as the Chief Ministerial face of the alliance. “The NDA will certainly form the government, and the BJP will be part of it,” said a confident Shah, adding, “We will contest the election under the leadership of the AIADMK. The Chief Minister will be from the AIADMK.”
This is a major departure from his earlier statement made when the AIADMK made its re-entry into the NDA. Then, flanked by EPS, Shah had said that the NDA would fight the poll under the leadership of EPS. It is an indication of the BJP having a ‘Plan B’ instead of putting all the eggs on EPS, say analysts.
Denying that the BJP is shouldering the responsibility of uniting those leaders who have been expelled from the AIADMK, like former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and others, Shah said, “I am not uniting anyone. It is related to their party, and they have to make decisions. But, I believe, the NDA comprising the AIADMK and the BJP is very strong.
Then, sending political parties in the state as well as observers into a tailspin, Shah left the question of actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) joining the NDA open-ended. “There is still enough time for the election. Everything will be clear at the right time,” was his cryptic response.
The TVK has declared the BJP as its ideological foe while identifying the DMK as its political enemy. However, the Union Government has provided ‘Y’ scale security cover to the actor, giving rise to speculation that the two parties have an understanding.