BJP confident of good alliance, Kalam’s grand nephew seeks ticket to contest polls from Ramnad
05 March, Chennai
With the alliance picture appearing hazy following a mute response from DMDK led by actor Vijayakanth, the Tamil Nadu Unit of the BJP Saturday exuded confidence of a good showing in the May 16 Assembly elections. Despite facing obstacles in its granduer plan of forging a formidable front for the polls, BJP State Unit President Ms Tamizhisai Soundararajan reiterated that talks were on to forge a strong alliance in the State.
”Even if we are left to face the polls alone, we will gain big”,she told reporters after the Central Committee meeting at party head quarters ‘ Kamalalayam’. She said the good governance of Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has made an impact among the masses in Tamil Nadu.
”We are planning a series of meetings across all the 234 assembly constituencies in the state in which we will highlight the good work of the (Modi) government to the people”, she added.
Asked about the central committee meeting, she said the discussions centred on the strategy to be adopted by the party in the elections and the manifesto to be released ahead of the polls. About the election manifesto, she said it would be a vision document that was aimed atall round development of the State and it would be released soon.
She said the party had received applications from more than 2000 aspiring candidates seeking to contest the polls and the interview would beheld on March 13 and 14. ”On the first day alone yesterday, the party received over 2,000 applications, including from Former President A P J Abdul Kalams elder brothers grandson A P J Sheikh Saleem who joined the party recently. He has filed an application seeking ticket from his home town of Ramanathapuram,” she added.
Sheikh Salim, the grand nephew of the late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, joined the BJP in New Delhi in September last year in the presence of party president Amit Shah.
Sheikh Salim said he took the political plunge to take forward his grand uncles idea of Vision 2020 and felt that the BJP was the only party that could deliver on that. My grand uncle also felt that the present government was committed to those ideals, he said, justifying his decision to join the BJP.