Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman on Wednesday said he would continue to contest alone in the parliamentary elections in 2024 and State Assembly election in 2026.
Speaking at a party campaign in Pattabhiram, Mr. Seeman said the urban local bodies elections would be a precursor to the 2024 and 2026 elections and said national parties had ‘no scope in Tamil Nadu’ if they didn’t ally with the DMK and the AIADMK.
“NTK candidates and those who nominate them are being threatened with dire consequences and some are even being kidnapped,” he alleged.
“There are some wards where the BJP is being challenged only by NTK. Why can’t DMK say that ‘only if you vote for DMK, BJP will not enter Tamil Nadu?’. To state that Congress is moderate and BJP is extremist is nonsense. The parties are different, but their policies are same – education, foreign affairs, economic policies are all pretty much the same thing,” he said.
He dismissed the narrative that a vote for NTK is a vote for BJP. According to him, the DMK and AIADMK are ‘donkeys on which national parties are riding’. Mr. Seeman said, “National parties can never dream of making inroads into Tamil Nadu if they do not ride on DMK and AIADMK. I wouldn’t even say that the DMK and AIADMK are horses on which BJP and Congress are riding.”
Speaking to journalists before a campaign rally in T. Nagar later in the evening, Mr. Seeman said AIADMK was fast becoming a ‘side-kick of the BJP’ in Tamil Nadu.
