A number of Union ministers are expected to visit Tamil Nadu before the end of the year, according to local party leaders who are aware of the developments. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to establish a presence in the state.
The Vernacular media also quoted BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai telling reporters last Monday that the 76 union ministers will come to the state.
“Our alliance with the AIADMK is good. There is no problem. But there is nothing wrong in us being ambitious for our party’s growth,” said a BJP state minister, not wishing to be named. “We are certainly more visible now than we have been before.”
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani visited Chennai and Coimbatore, respectively, earlier this month to monitor the advancement of programmes supported by the Center in Tamil Nadu.
Last Sunday at a bus stop in Chennai, Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Textile, opened stalls for union government programmes. He accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam administration of corruption and irregularities during his two-day visit.
You all also have to grow. Not just one family,” he said.
“We have to take our schemes to the people,” said a BJP leader.
“The aim is to turn our beneficiaries into our voters. There is no doubt that the AIADMK leads the alliance, but by the next assembly election, BJP will want to come on its own in Tamil Nadu.”
With chief minister and president of the DMK M K Stalin taking a hard stand against the imposition of Hindi, the state BJP has recently been forced to go on the defensive. After Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that Hindi should be the unifying language, he issued a warning. Stalin has written two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the claim that the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, which is reportedly chaired by Shah, recommended that Hindi be used instead of English as the primary language of instruction in all central educational institutions. On Monday, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly moved a motion against it.
BJP chief Annamalai said that no committee made any recommendation as alleged by the DMK, and in such a hypothetical situation they would oppose it.