Athawale appeals to AIADMK to join hands with NDA in LS polls

Union Minister Ramadas Athawale Tuesday appealed to the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu to join hands with the NDA in the coming parliamentary elections.

"If AIADMK joins hands with the NDA it would benefit the State and the AIADMK as well," he told reporters here after reviewing welfare schemes implemented by the Puducherry government.

Athawale, who is national president of the Republican Party of India (A), a constituent of the NDA, has made the appeal, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during an interaction with BJP workers in Tamil Nadu that the BJP cherished its old friends.

Modi had said the BJP was open to alliances following the path of Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had successfully built coalitions respecting regional aspirations.

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who holds the top party post of 'coordinator' in the AIADMK, recently said "at the time of election, anything can happen."
The union minister also appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami to ensure installation of a "big statue of the leader of the downtrodden Dr Ambedkar at Kanyakumari which is a place of confluence of the three seas."