Murugan, TTV both hint at alliance options to defeat DMK

Friday witnessed political surprises in the form of loaded statements from the BJP and the rebel AMMK camp. While BJP state president L Murugan did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with the AMMK, the rebel party general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said his party will not contest alone.

When informed that Murugan was not against the BJP AMMK alliance, Dhinakaran said it was too early to comment on alliance prospects. But insisted, “We are not contesting alone and we will forge an alliance with parties that are against the opposition DMK.” A large section of voters is not in favour of the DMK and our objective is to stop the DMK from coming to power and we will join like-minded parties, Dhinakaran told reporters.

In a surprise reply to a query about Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, Dhinakaran

said that he will wholeheartedly welcome Panneerselvam if he accepts the leadership of ousted AIADMK leader VK Sasikala.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK and BJP have started conducting internal assessments for the aspiring party candidates seeking MLA tickets in the Assembly polls.

“The internal assessment and the decision of the party high-level committee will decide the candidates and the AIADMK is likely to release the list of candidates by the third week of March. This time there will not be any changes to the list, once when it is released,” said an informed AIADMK senior dismissing a tentative candidate’s list that is making rounds on the social media. Former chief minister J Jayalalithaa is infamous among party seniors for always changing the list till the last moment.

Our party will have an early start and almost all the Ministers will contest from their sitting seats, the senior said.