15 AIADMK leader of joined BJP in the presence of BJP party president Amit Shah Tamilisai Soundararajan, president of the Tamil Nadu unit; and M Chakravarthy, vice-president of the State unit, were also present Nainar Nagendran, a leader who joined BJP, said that the leadership vacuum in the AIADMK impressive leadership qualities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him to switch over
Former Minister and prominent leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from the Tirunelveli district, Nainar Nagendran, on Saturday, August 26, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi in the presence of its president Amit Shah.
Along with him 14 other AIADMK leaders from Tamil Nadu too joined BJP after meeting Amit Shah at Ashoka Road in New Delhi.
P Muralidhar Rao, BJP general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu; Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of State; Tamilisai Soundararajan, president of the State unit; and M Chakravarthy, vice-president of the State unit, were also present.
This has come as a major blow to the newly merged AIADMK since nobody took BJP as a serious contender in Tamil Nadu politics.
55-year-old Nagendran is a two-time legislator and has been in active politics for more than 30 years. In February, Sasikala made Nagendran deputy secretary of the propaganda wing of the party. Another key AIADMK leader who joined BJP is K Karthiyayini who is also the former mayor of Vellore.
Nagendran told the Hindu that the leadership vacuum in the AIADMK after the death of Jayalalithaa and “impressive leadership qualities” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him to switch over to the BJP.
Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, BJP's state president said, "We are happy with them joining the party. We are sure the party is going to benefit in the coming days with their political experience."
Earlier, 19 AIADMK MLAs withdrew their support from the ruling Tamil Nadu party after the two warring factions of AIADMK led by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami announced a merger. The 19 rebel MLAs submitted memorandums to Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, saying they had no confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
