WITH the DMK riding on Dravidian politics to take on the BJP, it was the latter’s turn to score a point Monday, a day after the BJP announced C P Radhakrishnan as the NDA candidate for vice-president.
BJP state chief Nainar Nagendran declared the nomination of the veteran Tamil leader for the post as “a moment of Tamil pride”, urging the ruling DMK to “correct its historic blunder” of not supporting A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term as President.
Former state BJP chief K Annamalai said the vice-president election was an opportunity to honour Tamil Nadu’s “contributions to national leadership”, describing Radhakrishnan, currently the Maharashtra Governor, as a “son of the soil”.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who has reportedly been picked to be Radhakrishnan’s campaign manager, is believed to have phoned Chief Minister M K Stalin seeking consensus behind the NDA pick.
BJP ally AIADMK also pitched in for Radhakrishnan, lending the nomination its regional heft. AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami said all Tamil Nadu MPs should “shed political differences” and support the NDA candidate. “Since Radhakrishnan hails from Tamil Nadu, it is a good opportunity for the state,” he said in Tiruvannamalai.
The DMK, however, rejected the BJP’s outreach, accusing it of picking Radhakrishnan with an eye on the Tamil Nadu polls next year. Senior DMK leader T K S Elangovan said just projecting a person from Tamil Nadu did not make the BJP pro-Tamil Nadu, and reiterated the DMK-led state government’s allegation of being denied funds by the Centre.
In fact, as per DMK circles, a party MP, Tiruchi Siva, may be the INDIA bloc candidate for the post, setting up a head-to-head battle between two politicians from Tamil Nadu.
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DMK ally Congress said Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has been trying to make inroads, would not fall prey to the party’s plans. State Congress president K Selvaperunthagai said Tamil Nadu would “never accept the BJP, even if they nominate a person from here as President”, calling its ideology divisive.
The CPI(M), which is also a part of the INDIA bloc and an ally of the DMK in the state, said there was “no question” of supporting Radhakrishnan. His election as vice-president “would not bring even an iota of benefit to Tamil Nadu”, the CPI(M) said.
