Javadekar hits out at AIADMK, says alliance for TN polls soon

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today indicated that a picture on who will be fighting the coming Assembly polls alongside BJP would emerge in a week even as he took a swipe at ruling AIADMK vis-a-vis taking credit for flood assistance.
"We had very good discussion," Javadekar, BJP's Assembly election in-charge for Tamil Nadu, told reporters here after meeting DMDK chief Vijayakanth at his residence along with state party unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan.
He described the discussion as a "fruitful" one.
Asked if Vijayakanth had given any commitment on joining hands with BJP for the polls, he said, "we are already NDA (constituents), we will tell you everything next week."

On DMDK describing the meeting as a "courtesy call" he said, "let me tell you again, I am meeting all NDA colleagues and I am not meeting non-NDA parties and in that sequence I have met everybody."
Though Javadekar was at pains trying to stress that Vijayakanth-led party continued to be part of NDA, in a press release, DMDK said it was a "courtesy" call.

After the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Vaiko-led MDMK, PMK and later DMDK snapped ties with BJP one after the other, though the saffron party still maintains that the DMDK was with them.
He wrapped up his two-day meeting with parties that had fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with BJP, including the DMDK, and IJK. He also met All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi chief Sarath Kumar, who was not part of the NDA in 2014.

He said he would apprise his party leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his meetings and added that he would be here on Wednesday again to continue talks over polls and finalising ties with them.
"At a suitable time, all of us alliance partners will come before the press and we are working out finer details," he said, adding that it would be done in a week's time.
Hitting out at AIADMK without naming it or Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, he said, "it is the Modi regime which is lending a helping hand to Tamil people though some people are putting their stamp on the scheme but people know that when there was floods Modi came and gave nearly Rs 2000 crore from Central government."

Referring to the Rs 5000 financial aid given to flood-hit people in the state, he said, "the Rs 5000 given to all 14 lakh people (beneficiaries) is from central government."
"Therefore, if somebody just put their names like people are distributing rice for a rupee or two and in many states they claim it to be their scheme," he said.