What the BJP and the AIADMK forgot was that the pushy attitude could only help them make showy claims of spearheading a grand coalition but it could not bring in what is required — votes
That grandiosity cannot garner votes is something that the BJP does not seem to bother about. For the way in which the AIADMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu went about roping in the PMK faction, led by Anbumani Ramadoss, reportedly offering close to 20 seats, only betrays a sense of desperation to expand the coalition. Since it happened just as AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami was getting ready to leave for New Delhi for a rendezvous with BJP strongman Amit Shah, it was construed to have happened at the behest of the BJP that is highly concerned about the slow pace of its alliance gathering in the state that comprised primarily just two parties.
Since most political outfits in Tamil Nadu shied away from joining that alliance at a time when the DMK-led coalition remained steadfast in its unity, despite several voices from within seeking to break it, the BJP wanted to tell the world that it, too, has its own allies. It may have told AIADMK, which prides itself as the alliance leader, to go for a tie-up with any party that comes their way. So, the PMK faction of Mr Ramadoss was let in though it did not guarantee that PMK votes would not be splintered with senior Ramadoss declaring that, as founder of the party, he was the boss.
What the BJP and the AIADMK forgot was that the pushy attitude could only help them make showy claims of spearheading a grand coalition but it could not bring in what is required — votes. Or is it that the BJP just wants to tell the rest of the country that it has managed to make inroads into Tamil country, where it has eternally struggled to capture the imagination of the people, by showing off a multi-party rainbow alliance, in which it also wants the presence of former AIADMK leaders with no grassroots support like O. Panneerselvam and T.T.V. Dinakaran? Such efforts may, however, boomerang since politics is no commercial marketplace for loud claims and sales pitches to sway voters.
