Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai on Monday announced that the party will contest alone in the upcoming urban local body elections in the state on February 19. He said, the alliance with the AIADMK will continue at the national level and for polls to be held in the future.
“An alliance formation during a local body election is difficult. AIADMK has stood as an important ally in the NDA alliance. They have supported PM’s decisions including Farm Law Bill,” TN BJP president Annamalai said as quoted by ABP Nadu.
"BJP held initial talks with AIADMK leaders EPS and OPS. BJP is a fast-growing party and our party members want to contest in maximum seats in the elections. At the same time, AIADMK also has within the party and faces difficulty to meet the demands. So, we proposed to the national leaders and AIADMK on contesting alone,” he said.
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After talks, Annamalai said, “We have decided to contest alone in all seats across the state. However, the alliance with AIADMK will continue at the national level and for other polls in the future.”
The decision was taken to pay importance to the aspirations of the cadre, the leader said.
According to senior BJP leaders privy of the development, the AIADMK and BJP's talks hit a loggerhead since both of them wanted to contest in mayor posts in Coimbatore and Nagercoil, as per a report on Indian Express.
The party then announced its first list of candidates. The party announced the candidates for Cuddalore Corporation and municipalities of Cuddalore, Villupuram and Dharampuri which are set to face the elections.
The single phase of urban local body elections is set to take place on February 19 for 12,828 corporations, municipalities and town panchayat seats.