The Congress and the BJP engaged in a war of words over the claim of being the third largest party in the recently-concluded urban local bodies polls in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai questioned the Congress as to how the party perceives itself and its victory since it was part of the DMK-led alliance with 13 parties. “Do you consider this victory as your own? Do you have the guts to take on the BJP fighting the polls alone, like us? Will you get voters? But more importantly, will you have the candidates to fight the elections?,” Mr. Annamalai asked.
He also accused the Congress of not having the courage to walk out of the DMK alliance despite one of its MPs being insulted by a DMK leader during talks on seat sharing.
Mr. Annamalai claimed that the BJP was the third largest party in the local bodies elections and that it would focus on building its party. “You can keep fanning the DMK while we build our party,” he said.
Responding to Mr. Annamalai, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri charged that both the AIADMK and the BJP were spreading falsities about the results of the local bodies elections and were acting undemocratically as they were unable to digest the massive defeat they suffered in the polls.
“The facts will expose the lies of Mr. Annamalai who claims that the BJP is the third largest party. The BJP won 200 seats from just the Kanniyakumari district. In the rest of Tamil Nadu, it won only 108 wards. But the Congress fought on fewer seats and had more victories. Especially in Chennai, the Congress fought on 16 seats and won 13 but the BJP contested in 198 wards and won only one. In 178 wards, the BJP lost its deposit,” he said.
He claimed that following this defeat, the BJP could never dream about fighting elections in Tamil Nadu on its own. Mr. Annamalai should stop comparing the BJP to the Congress which won more seats in the elections, he said.
