TIRUCHY: IUML national president KM Kader Mohideen on Saturday dismissed the BJP’s prospects in the State, saying the “lotus blooms only in ponds, not in an ocean”, and asserted that the ruling DMK-led alliance would retain power in the Assembly polls. Addressing reporters, he said over 80% of people in the State were satisfied with the “Dravidian model” governance and would back the DMK again.
“Tamil Nadu is an ocean; the lotus cannot bloom here,” he remarked, ruling out space for the BJP’s ideology. Mohideen said the electoral contest had evolved from a four-cornered fight to a five-front battle with the entry of a combine led by S Ramadoss and VK Sasikala, and hinted at the possibility of more alliances emerging. Despite this, he maintained that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance remained “strong enough to face any number of fronts and win”. On the AIADMK’s reported alliance talks in Delhi, he echoed the Chief Minister’s line that the contest was between “Tamil Nadu and Delhi”, asserting that “Tamil culture and Dravidian principles are deeply rooted in the State, leaving no room for the BJP.”