New Delhi:
A number of leaders from Tamil Nadu, including 15 former MLAs and an ex-MP, joined the BJP here on Wednesday as the ruling party looks to strengthen its presence in the southern state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Most of these leaders are from the AIADMK, a former BJP ally in the state, and the entry took place in the presence of Union ministers Rajeev Chandrasekhar and L Murugan besides state BJP president K Annamalai.
Welcoming them, Annamalai said they bring a wealth of experience to the BJP and want to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hands as he returns to power for a third term.
They have seen the events in Tamil Nadu, he said in an apparent swipe at the state's ruling DMK and its main rival AIADMK.
“Tamil Nadu is choosing the path of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” claimed the young leader whose strong position on his party's ideological stand in the Dravidian state and sharp criticism of the established parties have won him his share of admirers and detractors.
Chandrasekhar said the entry on such a large scale shows Modi's popularity in a state like Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has not traditionally been a major force.
Noting that Prime Minister Modi has predicted that the BJP will win 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha and the NDA will cross 400, he claimed that many of these new seats will come from Tamil Nadu.
“It is clear that every citizen of India wants the transformation of the last decade to continue,” he said.
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