The Bharatiya Janata Party may announce an alliance partner from Tamil Nadu for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as soon as October, according to a source quoted by Hindustan Times.
The BJP had won only a single seat from Tamil Nadu in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but after the death of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, there has been infighting in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). With the Telugu Desam Party pulling out of the alliance and Shiv Sena’s recent campaign against the party, Tamil Nadu will become an important state for the BJP.
“Shah told us during his visit in July that there will be an alliance between the BJP and a regional player and a formal announcement will be made by October,” a BJP leader told the daily.
Another leader quoted by the newspaper said that the party has been communicating with both of Karunanidhi’s sons, Stalin and Alagiri. Amit Shah is likely to be at the memorial meeting for Karunanidhi in Chennai.
After Karunanidhi passed away, Alagiri claimed to have the support of the leader’s true followers trying to stake claim of the party over the successor named by Kalaignar, Stalin.
DMK was part of the NDA government of 1999 but pulled out in 2003 and formed an alliance with Congress to win all the 39 seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections. Earlier, there have been reports of improving relations between DMK and BJP.
In the 2016 state election, BJP’s vote share had decreased compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP has been working to shape Tamil politics to their advantage since Jayalalithaa’s death, according to Milan Vaishnav, the director and a senior fellow in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“However, the BJP’s leverage has declined over the past year with the narrowing of their perceived electoral advantage. Any potential Tamil ally will be able to drive a hard bargain,
