BJP to step aside if PMK joins NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: Even as BJP president Rajnath Singh is all set to share dais with NDA alliance partners in Tamil Nadu at Chennai tomorrow, the party today refused to commit whether PMK would be part of the grand coalition in the state.

"BJP, at this point of time, cannot say this party is part of NDA because first the head of that party has to say," BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu, told reporters here.

The remarks by the senior BJP leader comes at a time when differences have cropped up over allocation of seats to (BJP) its allies and hobbled finalization of the candidates list.

BJP is holding talks with DMDK, PMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu over seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Rao said discussions with the alliance partners are still on to finalise the seat-sharing.

"99.5 per cent work is done. Regarding one or two seats, there are now discussions going on... All these parties will become partners of NDA, I hope so tomorrow," the senior BJP leader said. He also said the list of BJP candidates to contest in Tamil Nadu has been decided. The finalisation of several constituencies including Salem, Tiruvannamalai and Kallakurichi could not be done as it involved both PMK and DMDK which happen to be traditional rivals in northern Tamil Nadu.