Chennai, June 3 (BPNS)
The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP is boisterously awaiting for a huge leap in its voter share coupled with the highest number of Lok Sabha seats from the seat.
With the counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections only a few hours away, the BJP unit of Tamil Nadu is satisfied with its performance after almost all the exit polls- both national level and regional have predicted the BJP led NDA winning a few seats in the state and increasing the vote percentage to double digit figures.
While some of the exit polls predicted 6 seats, some predicted upto 8 seats for the party and the BJP Tamil Nadu unit is banking on the hope that it would win a minimum of 6 seats and its alliance partners will also register wins.
The BJP state spokesperson ANS Prasad while speaking to BPNS said, “ The party and NDA has done extremely well in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and we are expecting a minimum of 6 seats and this may go well upto ten seats. Our alliance partners including PMK and AMMK have also done well and independent candidate and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam is also in a neck and neck fight in Ramanathapuram constituency.”
If the exit polls results sync with the exact results during counting on June 4, then this could be termed as a huge win for the BJP catapulting the party to the big league in Tamil politics.
BJP state president ,K. Annamalai had deliberately entered into confrontation and engaged in war of words with its then alliance partner,AIADMK leading to the latter snapping its ties with the saffron party on September 25, 2023.
The BJP went solo in the Lok Sabha polls of 2024 and received a shot in its arm after it aligned with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) , the political arm of the powerful Vanniyar community that can tilt votes in Northern Tamil Nadu and in some seats in Western Tamil Nadu.
If the BJP gets six to eight seats as predicted in the exit polls, the politics of Tamil Nadu is marked for a major change with the saffron party breaking the tradition of one of the Dravidian majors – DMK or AIADMK in the mainstream of Tamil Politics. A win in the Lok Sabha leading the NDA will catapult BJP into the big league of Tamil politics and the party is trying hard to replace AIADMK to become the principal opposition party in the 2026 assembly elections.
Jacob Thomas, political analyst and psephologist while speaking to BPNS said, “ Since Annamalai became the state president of the BJP, the party has been aggressive in its postures and came out strongly against both the Dravidian majors , DMK and AIADMK and finally led to the breaking of ties between the AIADMK and the BJP. While many eyebrows were raised when BJP state president went hammer and tongs against the AIADMK leading to it snapping ties with the BJP, a convincing victory in the Lok Sabha polls will make it clear that Annamalai was right in his outbursts and BJP as a political outfit has come of age in Tamil Nadu.”
He further said that winning a few seats in the Lok Sabha elections would directly lead to the BJP gaining ground across the state and would turn the tables on the AIADMK for the principal opposition party of Tamil Nadu.
C. Rajeev, Director , Centre for Policy and Development Studies , a think tank based out of Chennai while speaking to BPNS said, “ Tamil politics requires a leader who can carry the party and in Annamalai BJP got such a figure. DMK could fill the vacuum of Karunanidhi to an extent with his son and current Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin but after Jayalalithaa’s passing away, the AIADMK could not project such a leader and Edappadi K. Palaniswami cannot somehow position himself in that league. This is where Annamalai comes in and he has put himself in the big league of Tamil politics which no leader of BJP could do till now and this has made the difference.”
It may be recalled that BJP leaders, C.P. Radhakrishnan and Pon Radhakrishnan had won the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore and Kanyakumari but these were all in alliances with Dravidian majors, DMK and AIADMK.
This is the first election wherein BJP took the gamble without a Dravidian party and with exit polls predicting BJP wins, this is a clear message that the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP has come of age and is transforming itself into the big league of Tamil politics
