Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress firms up alliance with BJP for LS polls

Chennai: The Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) led by former Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan on Monday announced it will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu as part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Vasan, son of veteran Congress leader G K Moopanar who opposed BJP all his life, said the decision to tie-up with the saffron party was taken in the interest of the nation. TMC’s decision is significant as Vasan secured a berth in the Rajya Sabha in 2020 with support from AIADMK MLAs on a recommendation from the BJP, with whom he enjoys a good rapport.

“TMC has had a national outlook ever since it was launched. The decision to join hands with BJP was taken to ensure the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu and India. People want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return for a third term to lead the country once again,” Vasan told reporters.

People of Tamil Nadu have been supporting the BJP, Vasan said, adding that they realise that a third term for Modi will only lead to economic prosperity and reduction in poverty. Sources said the BJP is likely to ask Vasan to contest the elections in its election symbol, Lotus.

Vasan’s decision also met with opposition from his colleagues with a senior functionary, Ashokan, resigning from the party and youth wing chief Yuvaraj meeting AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami fuelling speculation of a crossover.

After serving as a minister in UPA-I and UPA-II from 2006 to 2014, Vasan quit the Congress in November 2014 to launch TMC, which didn’t take off like the first time it was launched by Moopanar in 1996 after breaking away from Congress. Vasan merged TMC with Congress in 2002 following his father’s death the previous year.

The party, in its new avatar, has not won even a single seat in elections it contested since 2016 – TMC contested the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly polls as part of the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

However, the decision by Vasan is a boost to the BJP, which is trying to stitch a rainbow coalition under its leadership to face the 2024 polls, after the AIADMK walked out of the NDA last year.

Vasan joining the NDA also comes after his efforts to bring back the AIADMK into the alliance ended in failure. Sources told DH that Vasan met AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami as BJP’s emissary, but the former made it clear that there was no going back on the decision to snap ties with the saffron party.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai welcomed TMC joining the NDA and drove to Vasan’s residence to congratulate him for the party’s decision. “Vasan’s entry will strengthen the alliance. He will guide us for the next 100 days,” Annamalai added.

However, Congress chief K Selvaperunthagai issued a strong statement against Vasan for his decision to join the NDA at a time when “no party in Tamil Nadu” is willing to tie-up with the BJP. Tearing into Vasan, Selvaperunthagai said the leader was made a minister by the Congress only because he was Moopanar’s son and that TMC cadres will not accept his decision.

“Moopanar’s soul will not forgive Vasan,” he said, recalling that it was the support of TMC’s three MPs that led to the fall of the A B Vajpayee government in 1999.