Former MP, 15 ex-MLAs join BJP in Tamil Nadu

A host of leaders from Tamil Nadu, including 15 former MLAs and former AIADMK MP V K Kulandeaivelu, joined BJP as the ruling party looks to strengthen its presence in the southern state in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Most of these leaders are from AIADMK, a former BJP ally in the state, and the members joined BJP in the presence of union ministers Rajeev Chandrasekhar and L Murugan besides state BJP president K Annamalai. Welcoming them, Annamalai said they bring a wealth of experience to BJP and want to strengthen the hands of PM Modi. They have been seeing the happenings in TN, he said in an apparent dig at the state’s ruling DMK and its main rival AIADMK. “TN is going the BJP way,” claimed the young leader whose strong position on his party’s ideological stand in the Dravidian state and sharp criticism of the entrenched parties is believed to have won him his share of admirers and detractors.