SALEM: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the party’s decision to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was driven by the feelings of its workers about the “happenings” in the state, and that there was no meeting between the BJP and AIADMK leaders on seat sharing.
“There was no pressure from the BJP high command whatsoever, and reports in a section of the media claiming that there were differences between the two over the saffron party’s demand about the number of seats for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are false,” the former Chief Minister said while speaking to the media in Chennai.
Palaniswami also clarified that no BJP leader had asked for a large number of tickets in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and that the AIADMK had not made any demand to change the state president of the BJP.
“The events in Tamil Nadu have hurt the hearts of AIADMK workers. They are the ones who will be working hard for the party’s victory. We have withdrawn from the National Democratic Alliance in a way that respects their sentiments,” he added.
On September 25, the AIADMK severed its ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA alliance after a meeting at the party headquarters. The party said that the BJP had been making “unnecessary remarks about AIADMK’s former leaders.”