Tamil Nadu: BJP seals an alliance with AIADMK, to contest five seats in Lok Sabha elections CHENNAI: The BJP and the AIADMK on Tuesday announced their decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry together. The BJP will contest five seats in alliance with the AIADMK, PMK and other parties.The alliance is for all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry. The parties will work together for the assembly byelections in the state.The parties made the announcement at the end of talks between the leaders of both parties in Chennai on Tuesday afternoon.Union railway minister Piyush Goyal, who is BJP’s election in charge for Tamil Nadu, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan and others held alliance talks with AIADMK joint coordinator and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and party coordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam.Goyal said, “I am delighted that AIADMK and the BJP have concluded a fruitful discussion and agreed to the contest elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with alliance partners.”“All parties will work together and strengthen and the NDA. All the 40 seats will be won by the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Edapppadi K Palaniswami and Panneerselvam,” he said.Earlier in the day, the PMK and the AIADMK announced their decision to contest the elections together. The PMK will contest in seven seats in Tamil Nadu.<doc-sep>All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday officially forged an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The formal announcement was made by Deputy Chief Minister O.Paneerselvam in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and TN BJP in charge Piyush Goyal. The BJP will contest from five Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu in the upcoming polls, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announced. The AIADMK will contest 21 Lok Sabha seats; the PMK, which had joined hands with the AIADMK earlier today, will contest seven seats. The AIADMK and the BJP will also contest together in Puducherry. "AIADMK and BJP will have an alliance for Lok Sabha elections which will be a mega and winning alliance. BJP will contest on five seats in Lok Sabha elections and we will be contesting together in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," Panneerselvam said. Tamil Nadu Deputy CM and AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam: BJP will contest on 5 seats in Lok Sabha elections & we will be contesting together in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry https://t.co/SpzCpy2utz ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2019 Union railways minister Piyush Goyal was also present in the AIADMK-BJP joint press conference. Piyush Goyal said, "We will also support AIADMK in the by-polls on 21 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. We have agreed to contest elections in the leadership of OPS and EPS in state and in leadership of Modi ji at the Centre." Asserting that all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be won by the NDA, Piyush Goyal said, "I am extremely delighted that today AIADMK and BJP have concluded a very fruitful discussion. We have agreed to contest Lok Sabha Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and by-elections to 21 assembly seats in alliance with our friendly partners." Earlier in the day the AIADMK finalised electoral alliance with PMK that would contest in 7 seats as part of the mega alliance. After the PMK joined the AIADMK for the Lok Sabha polls, DMK chief MK Stalin launched a frontal attack on the former. Terming the alliance as a "losing" alliance that fared poorly in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, MK Stalin said that the PMK is not concerned about the welfare of the people. "This is an alliance that was defeated by the people in 2009 elections. S Ramadoss is not worried about the country or the welfare of people. Only money matters to him," MK Stalin said. In 2014, the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) swept Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, winning as many as 37 seats. The BJP and NDA ally PMK won 1 seat apiece. The BJP and the AIADMK were not alliance partners then.<doc-sep>The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Pattali Makkal Katchi in Tamil Nadu signed an alliance on Tuesday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, The News Minute reported. The state has 39 parliamentary seats. Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announced that the Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK would get seven seats in the parliamentary polls. The party will also be allotted one Rajya Sabha seat. In turn, the Pattali Makkal Katchi declared its support to the AIADMK when bye-elections to the 21 seats are held in the state. Panneerselvam and Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S Ramadoss expressed confidence that the coalition would be a “winning” one. The alliance was sealed at a hotel in Chennai. Ramadoss, his son Anbumani Ramadoss, senior leader GK Mani, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam were present. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also set to finalise an alliance with the ruling AIADMK on Tuesday, according to The Indian Express. Union minister Piyush Goyal is expected to hold talks with AIADMK. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to be in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday to address public rallies in Tirupur and Kanyakumari. Goyal, who had visited Chennai on February 14, had met the AIADMK leadership. On the same day, Amit Shah said the BJP would forge a “strong alliance” in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections while addressing a rally in Erode. Also read: As BJP, Congress intensify alliance talks, PMK is being wooed by both sides<doc-sep>
Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the BJP will contest in five Lok Sabha seats as part of the “mega alliance” in Tamil Nadu, which has 39 Lok Sabha seats. (Source: ANI/Twitter) Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the BJP will contest in five Lok Sabha seats as part of the “mega alliance” in Tamil Nadu, which has 39 Lok Sabha seats. (Source: ANI/Twitter) The AIADMK and BJP on Tuesday stitched a pre-poll alliance in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Addressing reporters after the second and final round of discussions by the two parties, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the BJP will contest in five Lok Sabha seats as part of the “mega alliance” in Tamil Nadu, which has 39 Lok Sabha seats. Puducherry, on the other hand, has one parliamentary seat. BJP to contest in 5 seats in AIADMK alliance – Honourable Deputy CM Thiru O. Panneerselvam Announces. — AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) February 19, 2019 He also said that the saffron party will back the AIADMK in the bye-elections on 21 assembly seats in the state. “We will support AIADMK in the bye-elections on 21 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. We have agreed to contest elections in the leadership of OPS and EPS in the state and under the leadership of Modi Ji in Centre,” said Goyal, the BJP’s election-in-charge for Tamil Nadu. ALSO READ | 2019 Lok Sabha polls: Ramadoss gets 7 seats as AIADMK seals pact with PMK in Tamil Nadu The announcement came hours after the ruling AIADMK announced a poll alliance with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as part of putting up a broad-based front to face the coming elections. Announcing the tie-up in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami, AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said PMK would contest in seven Lok Sabha seats. It was also decided that the PMK would be allocated a Rajya Sabha seat. Having failed to make significant electoral gains in the southern states barring Karnataka, the BJP needs alliances to pull votes in the region in an effort to return to power at the Centre. The upcoming Lok Sabha polls is the first major electoral battle for the AIADMK after the demise of its charismatic leader Jayalalithaa in December 2016.