Tamil Nadu elections: NDA will shape up soon for Assembly polls, says BJP

At a time when the party is trying hard to have the DMDK in its fold for the Assembly elections like it did during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, the BJP on Friday expressed hope that the NDA in Tamil Nadu would shape up soon.

"NDA (in Tamil Nadu) would shape up soon, some time around the Pongal festival (January 15)," BJP National Secretary H Raja told reporters. He said the election work for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was delayed as cobbling of alliance with several parties had taken considerable time.

"That is why we had to face losses (electoral) in some constituencies in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls", he said.

"That is why the alliance for the Assembly election would shape up soon, by Pongal," he said.

BJP had parties including the DMDK, MDMK, and PMK in the NDA for the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu in 2014. Subsequently, MDMK snapped ties with the BJP in December 2014 and PMK said its relation with the Saffron party was confined to the Centre.

PMK, however, continues to maintain that all parties including the BJP were welcome to join its front for the Assembly polls provided they accepted the candidature of its leader Anbumani Ramadoss for the post of the Chief Minister.