Tie-ups on mind, Amit Shah to visit Chennai on Nov 21

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 17

Amid visible signs of friction with the ruling AIADMK and speculations of a possible BJP tie-up with MK Alagiri (brother of DMK president MK Stalin) for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, all eyes are on Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Chennai on November 21.

The news is already spicing up political drama in the state as it prepares for first Assembly elections after the passing away of political stalwarts — AIADMK’s J Jayalalithaa and DMK’s M Karunanidhi. Though both sides are silent on the matter, there are talks of a possible one-on-one meeting between Shah and Alagiri.

While Alagiri has been looking for avenues to resurrect his political career after being sidelined by Stalin, the BJP too is looking for suitable partners to realise its expansion dreams in the southern state. Reports suggest that Alagiri is preparing to launch a political outfit called “Kalaignar DMK” or “KDMK”.

While rivals dismiss Alagiri as “inconsequential” and the BJP as a “political lightweight”, observers say for the saffron party which has no major political base in Tamil Nadu, any “help” will be welcome.

Besides, superstar Rajinikanth continues to be elusive and friction with the AIADMK is widening over the “Vetrivel Yatra”.

A recent meeting between RSS ideologue Gurumurthy and Rajinikanth had drawn much interest.

The “Vel Yatra” is an attempt by the BJP to consolidate Hindu votes in the state where its vote share dropped from 5.56 per cent in 2014 to 3.66 per cent in 2019. 

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