BJP hoping to increase tally in TN polls: Goyal

BJP is hopeful of increasing its tally of seats in Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, senior leader and Union Minister Piyush Goyal said as the party is exploring the possibility of a tie-up with smaller parties for the electoral battle.
"We are working to win the elections with Third Front. All our leaders are going actively into all the districts to meet workers and get feedback in areas where we are strong, where we have to focus our energies. We are confident that we will make a significant mark in Tamil Nadu.
"We are not negotiating with any party. We are talking to various smaller parties like MDMK and PMK. Our dialogue is going on with them. NDA had fought last elections very well. We hope to increase upon that effort and improve our tally this time," Goyal, who is party's co-incharge for Tamil Nadu polls, told reporters here.

Replying to questions, he said that the belief in the party is that BJP has to grow.
"West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha - these are all the states, where BJP is growing very fast," he claimed, adding, "We want the party to stand on its feet and become significant players in these states and win the elections."
At a party meeting a few days back in Coimbatore, state BJP leaders also spoke on the issue of alliance, saying the party was prepared for both - to lead a front or contest alone - all the 234 Assembly seats.

A couple of days back, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy gave a new twist to the issue by pitching for DMK, DMDK, BJP alliance in the state.

So far, neither the state unit of BJP nor DMK has shown
any interest in forging an alliance though both are trying to rope in actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth-led DMDK in their respective fronts.
As of now, the BJP is trying to rope in DMDK though there is no strong reciprocatory signals from the latter.
PMK has said it would welcome BJP into its fold if it was ready to accept its leader Anbumani Ramadoss as chief ministerial candidate.
BJP, which led a rainbow seven-party alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, is aiming to form a strong combine for the Assembly polls, due in a few months.

In the LS polls, the BJP-led NDA comprised DMDK, PMK, MDMK, IJK, New Justice Party and Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, but the front managed to win only two of the 39 seats, one by PMK and another by the saffron party itself.
While MDMK led by Vaiko snapped its ties with NDA soon after the polls, PMK has been critical of various policies of the Modi government and even announced its youth wing leader as its "chief ministerial candidate", indicating it would lead an alliance for the Assembly polls.
DMDK, which is being wooed by various parties, has kept everyone, including BJP, guessing.

Virtually kicking off his party's poll campaign in Kerala last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a strong pro-Dalit pitch a few days back vowing to protect the rights of Dalits and asserting that there was no question of scrapping reservation for them and lashed out at the Opposition for spreading "lies" in this regard.