BJP upset at DMDK, decision on alliance soon

Chennai, March 15 (IANS) The BJP cadres in Tamil Nadu are upset at the manner in which actor-turned-politician A. Vijayakant floated the DMDK party, unilaterally announced its candidates and began the campaign Friday for the Lok Sabha elections, a party leader said Saturday.

"The party cadres are really upset at the attitude of DMDK. The 10 percent vote share that the party is said to command should be discounted as a large number of its legislative assembly members are not with the party," the party leader told IANS, not wanting to be named.

According to the senior leader, some more DMDK legislators are expected to lend their support to the ruling AIAMK prior to or after the general elections.

The DMDK's slight of declaring its list of candidates from five constituencies for which there are other claimants is not being taken lightly by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and cadres.

The BJP leaders discomfort was evident when they addressed the media here Friday night. P. Muralidhar Rao, general secretary and state-in-charge, said a report will be submitted to the party's central election committee for further action.

"The decision of the party president Rajnath Singh will be final," Rao said.

"Forming an alliance is an effort by all parties concerned. Further sustaining the alliance also depends on all the parties," he added.

The BJP is expected to take a decision on its Tamil Nadu front Saturday.

The party is trying to weave an alliance comprising of DMDK, PMK, MDMK and a couple of other parties.

"The PMK is more cooperative than the DMDK. The undeniable fact is that there is Modi wave in Tamil Nadu which in turn will increase our vote share," the BJP leader said.