Senior DMK leader TKS Elangovan on Monday (August 18) alleged the BJP is nominating Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan to the post of vice president for its “own electoral gain” since the Assembly election is less than a year away in Tamil Nadu, and that it is aimed at “deceiving the people.”
While AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami urged all MPs from Tamil Nadu to vote for Radhakrishnan, Tamil Nadu BJP said if the DMK does not back its former state unit president, it would not be “pardonable at all.” The DMK leader, however, gave a clear hint that his party would not back Radhakrishnan’s candidature.
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajn said the DMK, over 2 decades ago, committed a “historic blunder” by not supporting APJ Abdul Kalam’s candidature, backed by the NDA, for the office of President. Now, another opportunity beckoned the Dravidian party, and they should now support a Tamilian, Radhakrishnan, to the office of vice president, she urged.
Rejecting DMK’s allegation of discrimination against Tamil Nadu by the BJP-led Centre on issues including Keeladi findings, the senior BJP leader listed a string of initiatives by the union government for Tamil Nadu, including railway infrastructure. “If the DMK does not support Radhakrishnan it is not pardonable at all,” she said.
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Elangovan made it clear that Radhakrishnan is a BJP man, and his nomination by the saffron party for the second top Constitutional office is an elevation to him, and claimed “it is not going to do anything good” to Tamil Nadu.
A former Rajya Sabha MP, Elangovan, wondered why the DMK should support Radhakrishnan’s candidature and said his party would abide by the decision of the INDIA bloc, in which his party is a major partner.
AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami, welcoming Radhakrishnan’s candidature, said all the MPs from Tamil Nadu should support his candidature. Radhakrishnan belongs to Tamil Nadu, and a Tamilian getting named for the high office is an oppo