BJP alliance will score historic win in Tamil Nadu:Modi

In his first comments after the AIADMK and the BJP stitched together a formidable rainbow alliance in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed hope that the NDA will score a “historic win” in the Dravidian state in the Lok Sabha elections due in May.

He said people of Karnataka are “fed up” with the JD(S)-Congress coalition, which has been fighting over portfolios, those in Andhra Pradesh were “very angry” with the TDP, Congress and YSRCP and the common man in Kerala has lost confidence in the LDF and UDF.

Interacting with party workers from across the country through video conferencing, Modi spoke at length about how people in South Indian states were fed up with their governments and yearning to vote for the BJP which people view as an “honest party.”

On Tamil Nadu, Modi said the BJP has become stronger and an added advantage this election was the rainbow alliance stitched together with parties like the ruling AIADMK and PMK.

“In Tamil Nadu, we have a very strong alliance and I am hopeful that we will score a historic win in 2019 polls in Tamil Nadu,” Modi said in response to a question by BJP worker from Coimbatore, Arul Murugan, on what is prime minister’s thought on the party’s performance in South India since “media is underestimating the BJP as usual.”

The BJP, which hardly has any base in Tamil Nadu, decided to ally with the AIADMK and PMK to contest the elections as going it alone would not have worked well. The BJP will fight in 5 seats, while the PMK has been allotted 7 Lok Sabha constituencies.

“People in South (India) want a honest man, honest government and a honest party…I am confident that if we concentrate on our work, we can perform well even in South like the rest of the country,” Modi told BJP workers.

Media and Opposition parties thought, Modi said, the BJP can never make inroads into South India, but the party installed its first government in the South in Karnataka in 2008 and emerged as the single largest party in 2018 Assembly polls as well.

“The JD(S)-Congress government does not have the mandate of the people to rule Karnataka. Farmers are in distress, but the two parties are keener on allocation of portfolios. Farmers remember the work done by the BJP government between 2008 and 2013,” he said.

On Andhra Pradesh, Modi said the people were not happy with the TDP which has “fallen on the feet” of the Congress, the party once it opposed, for survival. “All three — TDP, Congress and YSRCP — have lost the confidence of the people who want a honest party in power and that is the BJP,” he said.