CBI raid echo: Tamil Nadu’s BJP unit treads middle path

Chennai

The Chennai BJP demonstrated against Kejriwal’s outburstonly on Friday, days after the Delhi CM called the Prime Minister a ‘coward anda psychopath’, claiming that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raidedhis office at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The muted response isattributed to the cadre being informally told not to queer the pitch in casethe national party decides to cobble an alliance with the AIADMK.

The party does not want to give a chance for the AAP tobecome the rallying point for opposition parties now that the Assemblyelections are just round the corner in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. With thedrubbing the BJP received in New Delhi and Bihar still fresh in its mind, theparty does not want to do anything to spoil the personal equation which TamilNadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa enjoys with the Prime Minister.

He had immediately released Rs.940 core as a firstinstalment and followed it up with another Rs.1000 crore for flood relief. Notonly that, Parliamentary Affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu arrived a week laterand spent more than a day inspecting flood ravaged areas, followed by unionMSME minister Kalraj Mishra.

 Union financeminister Arun Jaitley turned up one day later on Sunday. An AIADMK sourcerequesting anonymity said, “BJP has to get a foothold in Tamil Nadu and so willbe extra cautious before making any moves which could harm prospectivealliances.”

“The DMK aims to use the floods for electoral ends and thatis why party boss Karunanidhi attacked Jayalalithaa through the ChiefSecretary’s report,” said a party worker who refused to be named. Heunderscored the fact it was to gain political mileage that Karunanidhi wentabout distributing relief which is usually done by party cadre.

The aim is to queer the pitch for the ruling party. With theCommunists and MDMK planning to go it alone under the People’s Welfare Front(PWF), the DMK finds itself without supporters who can provide value addition.The PMK’s announcement that Anbumani Ramadoss as the chief ministerialcandidate did not go down well with the DMK. And so the cat and mouse game ofwait and watch continues.