The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : BJP meet to decide on poll strategy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

BJP meet to decide on poll strategy

T. Ramakrishnan

"We are clear that we will go it alone," says senior leader Venkaiah Naidu

CHENNAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party will take a close look at its strategy for the Assembly elections at a two-day meeting, beginning here on Monday. About a year ago, the party decided to face the polls without the support of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Though the decision was taken at the highest level, a section of the State unit has been hoping that the party will reconsider it and go in for a tie-up with the AIADMK. Till date, there is not even a hint from the other side. On the contrary, the AIADMK has struck an alliance with the Indian National League and a faction of the Indian Union Muslim League, both of which are on the other extreme of the political pendulum.

Asked whether there has been any reconsideration of the party stand, M. Venkaiah Naidu, senior leader who is overseeing the party strategy for Tamil Nadu, denies it emphatically. "We are clear that we will go it alone. We are not waiting for any invitation from anyone," he says.

Rationale

Those who want a tie-up with the AIADMK argue that the BJP, by contesting independently, will face a rout, given the ground realities. As the political scenario is polarised, it is necessary for the party to align itself with either of the two fronts. In the present circumstances, any understanding is possible only with the AIADMK.

One factor that is weighed against the idea of a tie-up with the AIADMK is the Sankaracharya arrest issue over which the BJP had slammed the ruling party. It staged a walkout from the Assembly on the issue. In November 2004, the then party president, L.K. Advani, came to Tamil Nadu and called on Jayendra Saraswathi at Vellore prison. The "pro-alliance" faction's reply is that the issue is a legal battle and there is no place for emotions.

However, the faction that advocates the independent line argues that it is 10 years since the party contested without the support of either the DMK or the AIADMK. In the 1996 Assembly elections, the BJP secured one seat. So, the present elections can be used to test its strength. Another point made by this group is that the workers want the party to go it alone. They have also not forgotten the "treatment" accorded by the AIADMK to the party during the Lok Sabha elections in 2004.

Yet another reason is that if the party has to grow at the national level, it has to build a strong base in Tamil Nadu. For this purpose, the party should know where it stands. This faction also notes that when the parliamentary board decided to endorse the State unit's viewpoint of going it alone, it was conscious of the political space occupied by the party.

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