Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, the joint coordinator of the AIADMK, has said the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would support a party at the Centre which would strive to protect the interests of Tamil Nadu post the Lok Sabha polls. He said this close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating the BJP was open to alliances and that it cherished its old friends.
Speaking at a party event in Chennai, the CM said, "As far as we are concerned, our stand is that whoever does good for the people of Tamil Nadu, they should come to power at the Centre."
Palaniswami added: "We will support only those who do good for the people of Tamil Nadu. We will not accept anyone who betrays the people of Tamil Nadu. This is our stand." "We will continue to march on the path shown by late leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa," he said at the event during which about 1,400 cadre from other various other parties, including AMMK, joined the AIADMK.
Modi had dropped hints that the Bharatiya Janata Party would forge alliance with old partners in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He said during his interaction with booth level BJP workers of five parliamentary constituencies of Arakkonam, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Erode and Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. The PM said: "Strong NDA [National Democratic Alliance] is an article of faith for us. It is not a compulsion. Even when the BJP won a majority on its own, we preferred to run the government with our allies. We cherish our old friends and our doors are always open for parties. But more than political issues, the winning alliance is the alliance of the people."
