CHENNAI: “What’s wrong if Edappadi K Palaniswami goes to Delhi and holds talks?” BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran asked on Friday, rejecting Chief Minister M K Stalin’s criticism and asserting that negotiations within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would formally begin in the State on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters at Kamalalayam, TN BJP headquarters here, Nainar Nagenthran said Stalin’s remarks on the AIADMK general secretary’s recent Delhi visit were misplaced and made without full knowledge 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 Tamil Nadu. “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. On the venue, he said it would become clear soon, suggesting the talks could be held either at the AIADMK headquarters or at Kamalalayam or somewhere else.
Targeting Stalin, Nainar accused him of focusing on the Hindi issue instead of 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.