Javadekar’s hush-hush visit sparks speculation

Speculations are rife that the visit was a last-ditch effort to convince a reluctant Vijayakant and cobble up an alliance with DMDK, which is understood to have already okayed a tie-up with the DMK for the Assembly elections.

Javadekar, who arrived in the city around 11 am, made an unscheduled visit to Anna University around noon and spent a little over an hour there. However, his whereabouts during the three hours remained a mystery as the minister neither visited state BJP headquarters Kamalalayam nor leaders of other parties in the city.

On the other hand, Vijaykant left his Saligramam residence at 1.05 p.m. to an undisclosed location. While some sources said the minister held secret talks with Vijayakant at a farmhouse owned by the latter on the outskirts of Chennai, his wife Premalatha, who visited her mother’s house in Virugambakkam mid noon, denied meeting Javadekar on Thursday. 

Premalatha added that Vijayakant had left the city for Rishivandiyam to distribute freebies to his constituency voters. Vijayakant did not reveal his alliance plans at Tirukovilur in the evening. Pertinently, BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan told media persons that they did not receive any feedback from the DMDK.  

BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan who was in Tirupati since morning was conspicuous by her absence during the minister’s visit. University sources said Javadekar and a bureaucrat made an unscheduled visit to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management on the varsity campus at noon and stayed there for an hour. 

“No meeting involving the minister was scheduled for Thursday noon. He viewed the maps and our projects and appreciated our work,” a member of the faculty said Thursday’s rumours have not gone down well with the DMK. 

DMK sources admitted that they were unhappy with the actor politician still toying with the idea of holding negotiations with others while their alliance pact is near sealed.