AIADMK cadres not for tie up with BJP

Chennai, Jan 30 (IANS) The ruling AIADMK on Wednesday invited applications from candidates aspiring to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry even as it made it clear that party cadres were strongly opposed to a tie-up with the BJP.

There are 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry.

Even as it maintained that an electoral alliance will be decided once the dates for general elections are announced, the AIADMK gave broad hints on who it wished to ally with and who it would like to avoid.

A statement signed by Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and Chief Minister K. Palaniswami urged interested candidates to get the applications from the party headquarters here between February 4 and 10 for Rs 25,000.

Speaking to IANS, former Finance Minister and AIADMK spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan said: "Party cadres feel that there is an anti-BJP wave across the state over issues like wrong policies of the central government, language policy; non-release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, stand supportive of Karnataka in the Cauvery dispute and others. We have to take into account our cadres' views."

Queried about the possibility of an alliance with other parties, he declined to comment.

However, it is reliably learnt the AIADMK does not rule out an alliance with the DMDK and PMK for the general elections.

The general perception in the party is that an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party will be counter productive and give undue advantage to the DMK.