CHENNAI: Rejecting Chief Minister MK Stalin's criticism and asserting that negotiations within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would formally begin in the State on Saturday, BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran asked, "What's wrong if Edappadi K Palaniswami goes to Delhi and holds talks?"
Speaking to reporters at Kamalalayam, the state BJP headquarters here, Nainar Nagenthran said Stalin's remarks on the AIADMK general secretary's recent Delhi visit were misplaced and made without a full understanding of the developments. "No talks have taken place so far. The Chief Minister is commenting without knowing why he went to Delhi," he said.
He maintained that there was no ambiguity over the NDA's leadership, with the BJP leading at the national level and the AIADMK heading the alliance in the State. "Seat-sharing discussions will be held in Tamil Nadu. There is no confusion on that," he said.
The BJP leader said Union Minister and party election in-charge Piyush Goyal would arrive in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, marking the start of formal consultations among alliance partners on seat allocation. Regarding the venue, he said it would become clear soon, suggesting the talks could be held at the AIADMK headquarters, at Kamalalayam, or elsewhere.
Hitting out at Stalin, Nainar accused him of focusing on Hindi rather than governance. "The Chief Minister should act on what benefits the people of Tamil Nadu rather than repeatedly speaking about Hindi," he said.
Highlighting the State's linguistic diversity, he said 20–25 per cent of residents speak languages such as Telugu and Malayalam. "Does the Chief Minister not want their votes?" he asked, also recalling Stalin's earlier remarks on Hindu votes.
Nagenthran added that Stalin's comments reflected political anxiety and questioned whether the DMK alliance had finalised its own seat-sharing arrangements.