The Bharatiya Janata Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday announced an alliance in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP will contest five of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.
“We will contest the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Pannerselvam,” Union minister Piyush Goyal said. “We will together sweep all [39] Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.”
“We will support AIADMK in the bye-elections on 21 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu,” the BJP leader added, according to ANI.
The AIADMK and the Pattali Makkal Katchi had entered an alliance earlier in the day. The PMK will get six seats out of the 39 parliamentary seats in the state, and also the only seat in Puducherry.
Goyal had visited Chennai and met the AIADMK leadership on February 14. On the same day, BJP National President Amit Shah said the party would forge a “strong alliance” in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections.
During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK had won 37 seats, making it the third largest party in the House. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally PMK won one seat each.
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