Despite Modi-led campaign, BJP draws a blank

CHENNAI: The BJP and its allies failed to breach the Dravidian bastion, drawing a blank in all constituencies despite a campaign blitzkrieg led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and Union ministers who asked people to opt for an alternative to the DMK and AIADMK.
Key leaders in city constituencies, state party chief Tamilisai Soundararajan in Virugambakkam, and national secretary H Raja in T Nagar, polled a mere 19,167 votes and 19,888 votes respectively and were both relegated to the third position.Party vice-president Vanathi Srinivasan polled just 33,113 votes in Coimbatore South, and M Chakravarthy did little better in Tiruttani.
The analyst M Kasinathan said people continue to view the BJP and AIADMK as natural allies and unless BJP breaks this mind-set it can't make inroads in the state. Giving credence to this theory was a rather late charge by BJP leaders against the AIADMK rule and the soft line by some central ministers. "So people inclined to vote for the BJP will go with the AIADMK instead as they feel those candidates have a better chance," he said.
BJP general secretary in-charge of TN Muralidhar Rao believes that the real reason is what he calls "intense polarisation of votes between the main Dravidian parties and a feeling among people that the AIADMK is a positive option compared to the DMK-Congress alliance."
In a candid statement, he said the BJP vote share may not have improved much compared to the previous polls.
A senior leader said it was an error on the part of the party's central leadership to retain state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan when the need of the hour was to have a more dynamic leader at the helm.
"Our inability to find good candidates who appeal to youngsters and experimenting with candidates based on their caste also contributed to our performance, as caste is not much of a factor in the Dravidian heartland," he said, taking a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah's social engineering strategy.
Unlike the Congress, which accepted DMK as its senior partner, the BJP was unwilling to sacrifice its dominant role and allow a regional outfit like the DMDK or PMK to lead an alliance.