Union urban development minister and senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu sprang a surprise in contradicting his Cabinet colleagues on the Tamil Nadu CM “being inaccessible” in saying that Ms J.
Union urban development minister and senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu sprang a surprise in contradicting his Cabinet colleagues on the Tamil Nadu CM “being inaccessible” in saying that Ms J. Jayalalithaa was indeed accessible and had discussed development issues with him twice.
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar had recently alleged that the TN chief minister was inaccessible. They claimed her “inaccessibility” had prevented the Centre’s development schemes from reaching the people of the state. “That is their experience. I have met her twice and discussed issues related to the ministry,” Mr Naidu told mediapersons in Coimbatore on Sunday.
Trying to throw light on the contradictory statements of the Union ministers, BJP national executive member L. Ganesan said, “There is no contradiction in what the (three) ministers say. Even Mr Naidu is right in pointing out his experience. But Mr Naidu’s experience is different from that of Goyal or Javadekar and it will not cause any confusion among the BJP here.”
Articulating the ruling party’s take on the issue, AIADMK spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi said, “The sudden new aggression is because they could not be in Amma’s alliance “Until recently, the BJP ministers had showered praises on our Amma. They had said Amma was efficient and her state is the best. While attending the Global Investors’ Meet (in Chennai) Union ministers Pon Radhakrishnan and Nirmala Sitharaman appreciated the good work of Amma and now they made a U-turn,” Ms Saraswathi added.
She indicated that the saffron party’s frustration at not being able to reach an electoral alliance with the AIADMK was showing in the changing stand.
“Definitely not the case,” Mr Ganesan replied when asked if the BJP attempts to forge an alliance with AIADMK had failed. “We made a policy decision in 2014 Lok Sabha election to oppose both the AIADMK and DMK and to continue the same for the Assembly election.”
“If they are not still aiming for alliance, their plan to flay the AIADMK may help them to increase their vote share,” Mr Gnani Sankaran, writer and political commentator said when asked about the sudden shift in the BJP strategy.
