CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran on Thursday said his party expected to win ‘20 to 30 seats’ in the upcoming assembly elections, adding that some of its MLAs could even become ministers — remarks that triggered speculation about BJP’s role in a future coalition govt in the state.Speaking after inaugurating BJP’s election office in Chennai, Nagenthran said, “I believe that around 20 to 30 MLAs will emerge from here.” He then endorsed the remarks of BJP state vice president V P Duraisamy on the opportunity for BJP MLAs to become ministers. “Duraisamy has said some of the MLAs would become ministers. It will certainly happen, if God wills,” Nagenthran said.
The remarks come against the backdrop of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami rejecting the statements of BJP leaders that an ‘NDA govt’ would be formed after election. While BJP’s national leaders including PM Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP’s Tamil Nadu poll in-charge Piyush Goyal said an ‘NDA govt’ would be formed, EPS has been maintaining that an ‘AIADMK govt’ would be formed. All this while, Nagenthran was non-committal on the issue. He had downplayed the statements of national leaders. This was perhaps the first time that he has said “BJP MLAs stand a chance of becoming ministers.”However, Nagenthran later told reporters that BJP would not be rigid in its demands with allies. Responding to a question on whether BJP would take a firm stand on seeking ministerial positions, he said, “We will not be rigid about this, all we want is to remove this (DMK) govt from power.”Seat-sharing talks between AIADMK and BJP were likely to begin only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Madurai on March 1. The visit of Piyush Goyal scheduled for Friday has been postponed.
