VELLORE: The presence of New Justice Party leader AC Shanmugam on stage at the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s election meeting at Kandaneri in Vellore on Sunday raised eyebrows as he was the only non-BJP person present.
What took everyone by surprise was Shanmugam sharing the stage with the BJP leaders even after he lost the parliamentary polls due to being betrayed by alliance party functionaries in 2014.
Last time around also senior AIADMK functionaries despite knowing that the poll was to be stopped in a few hours continued to get election funds, which were never returned. What made Shanmugam sore was that despite complaining to party head Edappadi K Palaniswami then, there was no action, which made the culprits bolder and resulted in his present proximity to the central leadership of the BJP.
The then AIADMK minister KC Veeramani, who was the party in charge for the 2019 polls in Vellore, was known for his proximity to Water Resources Minister and Katpadi MLA Duraimurugan as both belong to the same community. This ultimately worked against Shanmugam who feels that in the present anti-incumbency mood of the electorate he stands a good chance of trouncing the rival DMK. And so, he waits for luck to smile on him.