Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP is expecting rich dividends in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections through the padyatra titled, ‘En Mann, En Makkal’ (My land, my people), by its state unit President, K. Annamalai.
The padytra, which was flagged off by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on July 28 at Rameswaram, is now passing through the Kanniyakumari district with a huge public participation in all places.
Annamalai, the young IPS officer-turned politician, has taken an aggressive posture against the ruling DMK and has accused Chief Minister MK Stalin and his family including his son Udayanidhi and son-in-law Sabareesan, of indulging in corruption.
Sources in the BJP told IANS that an internal survey conducted by the party has revealed that Annamalai’s yatra has given a much needed hype to the fortunes of the party and that this has helped the BJP to connect directly to the people of the state.
In South Tamil Nadu, where there has been communal disturbances earlier, the party is highlighting the central government banning the Islamist organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI) and the arrest of its senior functionaries to bring peace in the area. This has also struck a chord with the people of South Tamil Nadu.
It may be recalled that BJP leader and former Union minister, Pon Radhakrishnan had won the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat earlier and the party is a force to reckon with in this belt.
A senior leader of the BJP, who does not want to be identified, told IANS that the party is keen to focus on certain Lok Sabha constituencies to win these seats. While Union Home Minister Amit Shah, considered a main strategist of the BJP, has declared that the party would win 25 Lok Sabha seats, the saffron camp is expecting a little above five seats in the state.
With the prospects of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi contesting from Tamil Nadu looming large, the state BJP is keen that the necessary groundwork is being done to make things comfortable for an emphatic win in the state.
The BJP, which is in alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, is expecting to win a large number of seats in the 2026 assembly seats in a bid to capture power in the state.
–IANS