BJP eyes minimum 30 seats, plans to focus on linguistic minorities

Chennai: The BJP is preparing to seek around 30 seats or more for the assembly election, which is more than the 28 seats its rival Congress will contest in the DMK alliance. The party has also plans to sharpen its outreach to linguistic minorities, particularly Telugu-speaking voters.

The strategy was discussed at a consultation meeting chaired by BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh at Ayyavu Mahal in Aminjikarai in Chennai. Around 150 leaders from TN, Kerala, Telangana, and Karnataka, including election in-charges, attended the meeting, alongside a management committee consultation session.


Sources said party leaders handling the election manifesto were asked to focus on attracting votes from linguistic minorities in the state, especially the Telugu-speaking population. The leadership reviewed constituency-specific strategies in areas where the BJP built organisational presence.

Santhosh asked leaders to focus only on poll work until April 15, noting that election in Tamil Nadu could take place within about 45 days. Union minister Piyush Goyal, the party's state election in-charge, had indicated a similar timeline during his recent visit.

During discussions, several leaders suggested that BJP should contest at least 30 seats in the alliance. They argued that contesting fewer seats than Congress, allocated 28 seats in the DMK alliance, could create an adverse perception for BJP, which heads govt at the Centre.

Referring to recent remarks by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami that his party would form govt on its own, Santhosh told leaders that the alliance remains part of the NDA framework, sources said. He advised state leaders not to comment on who would lead the alliance or whether it would be a coalition govt, saying such decisions would be handled by the national leadership.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran told reporters after the meeting that discussions on seat-sharing were not finalised. Later, speaking at an RSS event, Nagenthran said he had been a member of AIADMK earlier and followed the path of MGR, but later came to understand the ideological work of RSS after undergoing training as a swayamsevak.