Why Did AIADMK MLAs Meet BJP's Nirmala Sitharaman?

A week after the AIADMK officially broke ties with the BJP, three MLAs from the party on Tuesday met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, sparking various speculations.

AIADMK MLAs Pollachi Jayaraman, Amul Kandasamy (Valparai) and AK Selvaraj (Mettupalayam) met Nirmala Sitharaman along with BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan before the official programme in Coimbatore. They also shared stage with the BJP minister during a credit outreach programme.

Former AIADMK minister Jayaraman said, "We had met the Union Minister as a follow-up to a letter I had sent with regard to the coconut-growing farmers requesting a reasonable rate for copra coconut and highlighting the problems faced by the coir industry."

He stated that he had sent a letter to the BJP minister over the issues faced by the coconut farmers and the coir industry. "I came here to put forward the demands of the coconut farmers who form a majority in my constituency. AK Selvaraj is here to request a bank in his constituency, and Amul Kandasamy is here to request student loans for children in his constituency," he stated.

On asking about the BJP and AIADMK's alliance, he stated, "There was no talk about the alliance. The stand of our party on alliance will be decided by our general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami. There is no political connection to today's meeting," Jayaraman reiterated.

What caught the attention of many was he referred Nirmala as 'Amma'. On asking about it, "Jayaraman said "There is only one amma for us and that is Jayalalithaa. We called the minister amma out of respect. Amma (Jayalalithaa) cannot be compared to anyone."

This development led to a lot of speculation, particularly given the recent trend of leaders across various states from different parties, such as the recent example in Maharashtra with NCP joining hands with the BJP.

Last week, the AIADMK announced walking out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and said it would lead a separate front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Reports claim that Union Home Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been assigned the task of forming a formidable alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "The BJP high command seems to be upset with the exit of AIADMK. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to take care of the state's affairs henceforth and she is likely to have a crucial role in forming the NDA alliance in TN.

Meanwhile, AIADMK party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has stated that the decision to part ways with the BJP was "final" and it reflected the views of two crore party workers.

"This is not my decision as the party's general secretary. This is a decision of the AIADMK cadre. When a resolution is adopted, that is final," he said. On what led to the break-up, the former Chief Minister said, "We were forced to support issues we don't agree due to alliance dharma. Now we face no such situation," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

He also indicated that the AIADMK will not have any Prime Minister candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"A few people are asking who is our Prime Minister candidate. In 2019, did Odisha CM, West Bengal CM, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, did they face election by projecting their PM candidates? The way they faced elections to protect the state's rights, AIADMK will also protect Tamil Nadu people's rights. We will meet people and will ask for their votes. People are our masters," he added.

The AIADMK and the BJP's strained following TN BJP Chief Annamalai's remarks on Dravidian stalwart Annadurai.