BJP reaches out to Jayalalithaa

Not just Bengal, party unlikely to put up a strong fight in TN too

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led several senior ministers of his government in congratulating former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on her acquittal in a disproportionate assets case.

The Modi government is hopeful that Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will be more cooperative with the government, not only on the goods and services tax (GST) constitutional amendment, which the Dravidian party has opposed, but also on other Bills.

It will be a positive development for the Modi government’s reform agenda to have a congruence of views on important Bills with AIADMK, as it comes on the heels of Modi’s meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and the AIADMK command substantial numbers, not only in the Lok Sabha, but more crucially in the Rajya Sabha, where the Modi government is in a minority. The AIADMK is the third largest party in the Lok Sabha with 37 seats, while Trinamool has 34. In the Rajya Sabha, the AIADMK has 11 and Trinamool 12 members.

Both Tamil Nadu and Bengal are scheduled for elections by early 2016. The BJP’s poor performance in the recent municipal polls in Bengal and the undiminished popularity of Jayalalithaa has already made the BJP leadership rethink their strategy of putting up a stronger fight in either of the states in the Assembly elections. In effect, the BJP has already written off both, as it expects the two leaders to return to power.

The opposition, particularly the Congress, will keenly watch the AIADMK’s posturing. According to a senior Congress leader, the key to AIADMK’s strategy towards the government will be its response to the GST Bill, when it comes up in the monsoon session. Until now, the AIADMK has been opposed to the GST. The Bill has been referred to a Rajya Sabha select committee.

BJP sources were at pains to stress how the central leadership had maintained cordial relations with the AIADMK chief after she had to quit from the chief ministerial post. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had called on Jayalalithaa in Chennai in January-end. The AIADMK was also a rare party to support the contentious land Bill, with Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam terming the Modi government Bill “more state friendly” on the floor of the state legislature.

In a statement on Monday, BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit President T Soundararajan said the party did not interfere in the Jayalalithaa case or any other court judgments. “As far as I am concerned, People’s CM (the term used by Jayalalithaa’s supporters after she was disqualified from the post) has got a big relief with the grace of god. Jayalalithaa should ensure that the people of Tamil Nadu get that relief,” she said.

An AIADMK press statement said Modi congratulated Jaya. Ministers Sushma Swaraj and Najma Heptullah also conveyed their greetings.