State General Secretary of the BJP, Raama Sreenivasan, has delivered a fitting counter to D. Jayakumar, the Organizing Secretary of the AIADMK and former minister. Sreenivasan pointed out that the AIADMK’s achievement of securing 65 MLA seats in 2021 was primarily due to the support provided by the BJP.
Sreenivasan was responding to a question on the challenge posed by former minister D. Jayakumar three weeks ago. Jayakumar had dared the BJP to win a single seat in the 2026 elections. He mocked the party by claiming that the BJP only secured four seats in Tamil Nadu due to the AIADMK’s support. In a recent interview, Raama Sreenivasan addressed Jayakumar’s challenge, using the latest 2024 Lok Sabha data to counter him.
Sreenivasan questioned, “In how many segments did the ADMK come first among the 234 assembly segments? Not even 20, do you agree? However, they have 65 MLA’s in the assembly, right? The ADMK should have come first among the MLA’s and the former ministers in the parliament elections, right? Why did they not come first? It is because the BJP was not with them. What was the vote percentage you got when you stood with the BJP and what was the vote percentage when you came out from the BJP alliance? Please tell, announce this publicly. You got 23% as an alliance, so shall I say that the 65 MLA’s are BJP’s alms?”
Raama Sreenivasan further criticized the AIADMK, accusing them of believing that by attacking the BJP and portraying Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the real adversary, they could consolidate and gain the trust of the 13% minority vote bank. He argued that this strategy was misguided and that the minority votes did not support the AIADMK, despite their alliance with the SDPI.
Sreenivasan also highlighted that, despite defeating Jayakumar’s son in South Chennai, who lost his deposit in the Lok Sabha election and pushing the AIADMK to third place in Madurai, despite the efforts of sitting MLA Sellur Raju, the AIADMK has failed to acknowledge their shortcomings.
In all these constituencies, the BJP secured the second spot. Sreenivasan challenged the AIADMK to recognize the BJP’s growth and dared them to see who truly has the strength in the upcoming elections.
— Raama Sreenivasan (@ProfessorBJP) September 4, 2024
In a press briefing on 21 August 2024, former AIADMK minister D. Jayakumar remarked that Annamalai appears to be under the impression that he and his allies can secure major political victories. Jayakumar noted that the DMK is backing the BJP-led central government due to its own legal issues. He questioned whether the BJP could stand independently and win even a single constituency in the 2026 assembly elections. Jayakumar found it both amusing and strange that the BJP, which lacks a solid foundation and significant influence, is engaging in dispute with the AIADMK.
Jayakumar remarked, “It hasn’t sprouted three leaves, within that it raises the question towards the two leaves means… the party has been around for over 50 years, and ruled for 31 years, in this situation if we say we put alms it wont be dignified, but with our support, you were able to secure four seats in the state assembly. Could you win a seat in the 2026 assembly election on your own? You can’t. Likewise, the BJP, who couldn’t stand alone, lacked influence, and was without anything, speaking about us was bizarrely amusing.”
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