lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 09, 2019 07:20 IST

None other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “Daddy” of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Tamil Nadu dairy development minister KT Rajenthira Balaji said on Friday.

After addressing a party meeting at Srivilliputhur in Viruthunagar district, the minister said that since the death of Amma (AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa), it was Modi who had been guiding the AIADMK as a “Daddy”.

“Of course, Modi is our Daddy now. Since we have lost our Amma, PM Modi has come as a Daddy to guide and support us. Modi is not only the Daddy for the AIADMK, he is also the Daddy for the nation. Hence, the AIADMK has forged an alliance with the BJP,” said Balaji.

It may be recalled that during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign, Jayalalithaa had coined the slogan “Tamil Nadu’s Lady or Gujarat’s Modi?”. It became hugely popular as it was a taunt to Modi, who was then the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“TN government under my leadership has been performing far better than the Gujarat government under Modi. This Tamil Nadu Lady is delivering good governance than that Gujarat’s Modi,” Jayalalithaa had said while campaigning in Chennai.

The AIADMK, which contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on its own, won 37 of the 39 seats in the state. However, for the upcoming general elections, the AIADMK led by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami aligned with the BJP, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Puthiya Thamilagam (PT). The AIADMK has allotted five seats to the BJP.

“This has to be taken in the right spirit of Modi guiding the nation on the right path,” Tamil Nadu BJP general secretary Karu Nagarajan said.