Ties with AIADMK strong, says TN BJP chief

Chennai, Dec 28: The BJP's Tamil Nadu chief L Murugan on Monday asserted that his party''s alliance with the AIADMK continues and that ties are "strong," a day after the ruling party told its saffron ally that it was the big brother in the state.

His remarks came shortly after his meeting with Chief Minister and ruling AIADMK co-coordinator K Palaniswami here today.

Palaniswami, who later in the day spoke to reporters at Coimbatore, said the AIADMK-BJP alliance would continue. He also said his party had announced the chief ministerial candidate, i.e. himself, for the 2021 Assembly polls, Murugan said he had requested the chief minister to implement the Centre''s New Education Policy and that he had submitted his party''s signature campaign containing 50 lakh signatures on the issue.

The Tamil Nadu government had earlier said it will only follow the two-language formula-- of Tamil and English, in vogue for decades and not go for three languages as envisioned in the NEP 2020 which includes Hindi.

Murugan evaded a direct question on the AIADMK declining to share power with allies if it came to power, but said "the BJP''s alliance with AIADMK continued and it remained strong."

"You will know the answers for all the queries in two or three days," he shot back when asked to comment on AIADMK''s stand on that the BJP cannot be accommodated in the government if the alliance won the 2021 Assembly polls.

In its first poll rally here, the ruling AIADMK on Sunday bluntly told ally BJP that it cannot be accommodated in the government if it won the assembly elections, due next year, and asserted that the saffron party cannot make a mark in the Dravidian heartland of Tamil Nadu.

The BJP has to endorse Chief Minister K Palaniswami''s candidature for the CM''s post for the polls, the AIADMK indicated and wanted its partner to agree to its other terms like non-participation in government and if not, rethink of its 2021 electoral options. Meanwhile, Palaniswami said the alliance between the two parties, forged for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, will continue.

"We have announced the chief ministerial candidate. Our alliance continues. The coalition (apparently the NDA in TN) will be forged under our leadership," he said in Coimbatore.

On Monday, Murugan lashed out at the M K Stalin-led DMK for "duplicity" on the NEP. He alleged that the schools run by the "DMK family encourage the learning of four or five languages."

"But when it comes to government schools, that party does not want the students to learn an additional language,"the BJP president said, lashing out at the Dravidian major over its stated opposition to alleged Hindi imposition and insistence that Tamil Nadu should follow only the two-language formula.

Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leader and state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said his party will forge electoral ties only with those that accepted Palaniswami as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2021 election.