Chennai: After winning four of the 20 assembly seats it contested in the 2021 election as an AIADMK ally, BJP is pressing for a larger share of seats this time. BJP leaders told TOI they would seek “at least one seat per district” (the state has 38 districts). AIADMK leaders, meanwhile, said the party is willing to offer its prime ally 25 seats.Leaders of both the parties said they would remain united, and the unity would be on show during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Madurai on March 1, and a public rally in Trichy on March 11. A senior AIADMK leader said BJP’s national leadership is keen on getting constituencies it has a high chance of winning, rather than negotiating for a higher number of seats. “On that basis, we are willing to give them 25 seats. The number may go up to 30, depending on the choice of seats and the final number of allies,” he said. In 2021, BJP won Modakurichi, Coimbatore South, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil, represented by C Saraswathi, Vanathi Srinivasan, Nainar Nagenthran and M R Gandhi respectively. The party’s victory margins ranged from 281 votes in Modakurichi to more than 23,000 votes in Tirunelveli.Union minister L Murugan lost in Dharapuram by 1,393 votes, while the party suffered big defeats in seats including Harbour, Thalli, Tiruvannamalai, Thousand Lights, Tirukkoyilur, Udhagamandalam, Aravakurichi, Tittakudi, Thiruvaiyaru, Karaikudi, Madurai North, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Colachel and Vilavancode (margins ranging from 21,000 to 95,000 votes). The party came runner-up in around 50 assembly segments in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in TN. Some local BJP functionaries said the party should demand 40 seats since PMK’s importance has waned with the split and DMDK has crossed over to the DMK side. “Since the poll deal is struck by our national leadership, the local unit has no say in these matters,” said a state functionary. Union minister Piyush Goyal, in charge of the party’s election campaign in TN, is expected to visit the state soon. Meanwhile, AIADMK and BJP leaders are closely tracking developments within PMK whose founder Ramadoss has called a meeting of district secretaries, besides office-bearers of Vanniyar Sangam on Thursday to discuss electoral strategy. Differing views within the party — between those favouring AIADMK and others leaning towards TVK— has left Ramadoss weighing options.“AIADMK will have an alliance only with a party that has a name and symbol,” said a former minister. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami will campaign in Maduravoyal and Poonamallee on Feb 25, and in Tambaram and Pallavaram on Feb 26.
