Chennai:

Two political workers from Tamil Nadu have been murdered in less than 24 hours — one of them in neighbouring Puducherry. Selvakumar, a BJP worker from Sivaganga district was found murdered last night. In neighbouring Puducherry, Padmanabhan, AIADMK’s Ward Secretary from Cuddalore district, was killed.

Selvakumar was president of the party’s district cooperative wing, and an accused in a murder case. Investigators have said the murder had its roots in personal enmity.

A senior officer told NDTV, “Selvakumar was into the brick kiln business… We have identified the suspect. Personal enmity appears to be the cause of murder”.

Padmanabhan was first hit by a car while he was returning on a motorbike. Then he was hacked to death. Investigators from Puducherry have rushed to Cuddalore. Police sources suspect this to be a revenge killing.

This is the third murder of a political functionary this month in Tamil Nadu. A few weeks ago, Armstrong, the state chief of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, was hacked to death by a six-member gang. Investigators called it a retaliation murder.

Armstrong was suspected of engineering the murder of an alleged rowdie, Arcot Suresh, last year.  A week later, an NTK functionary was hacked to death in Madurai. The police had attributed it to a land dispute within the family.

In Kanniyakumari, a Congress councillor’s husband, Jackson, a driver, was murdered this morning. The man was hacked to death.  The police are on the lookout for a six-member gang.

The murders have come as a huge embarrassment for the ruling DMK, which recently transferred the Chennai Police chief and the Home Secretary. The new police chief is A Arun and Dheeraj Kumar is the new Home Secretary, but one of the accused in the Armstrong murder case was shot dead after the change.

The Opposition AIADMK is targeting the ruling DMK. Its spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said the murders “clearly illustrate the lawlessness in the state and the incompetence of Chief Minister M K Stalin”.

“MK Stalin should examine if he has the moral right to continue as Chief Minister,” state BJP chief K Annamalai posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The ruling DMK says the law and order situation in the state is far better than in BJP-ruled states. Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau, it has accused the Opposition of playing politics.

DMK spokesperson Dr Hafeezullah said, “A no-crime situation is utopian across the world. What is important is how the government responds and prevents. Chief Minister M K Stalin has dealt with these firmly and professionally”.

BJP workers, he said, are involved in several criminal cases “including murder and drugs cases and (party chief) Annamalai should introspect if he should continue as state BJP president,” he said.

Even BJP’s Tamilisai Soundarajan has said the party admitted criminals without any scrutiny, which “didn’t happen” when she headed the party.

Krishnagiri/Chennai:

The opposition AIADMK on Thursday said it will not go back on its decision of severing ties with the BJP and reiterated that the party would cobble up an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and the next assembly election too.

The party’s Deputy General Secretary KP Munusamy ruled out any scope of reconsidering the decision announced on September 25 under any circumstances, as the AIADMK needed to honour the sentiments of two crore party workers.

Following a meeting chaired by party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai, the AIADMK announced that it was parting ways with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

“We did not ask the BJP leadership to remove the state president (K Annamalai)” Mr Munusamy told reporters in Krishnagiri.

In Chennai, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who was expelled from the AIADMK, accused Palaniswami of breaking the alliance with the BJP.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Panneerselvam said BJP leaders were in constant touch with him and that he would make his stance known only after the BJP makes a formal announcement about the alliance. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Monday took a break from wedding preps – the Rajya Sabha MP is expected to marry actor Parineeti Chopra in Rajasthan this month – to take a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party after it was dumped by Tamil Nadu ally All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Mr Chadha – whose AAP is part of the INDIA bloc – quoted a NDTV alert – and said, “Whenever someone tried to break INDIA, it itself broke and disintegrated… same thing happened today…”

“Our INDIA alliance was strong yesterday and is strong even today… but sadly the NDA (the BJP-led national alliance) which throws stones at other people’s houses could not save its own house.”

जब भी किसी ने ‘INDIA’ को तोड़ने की कोशिश करी, वो खुद टूटकर भिखर गया…

आज भी ऐसा ही हुआ

हमारा INDIA गठबंधन तो कल भी मज़बूत था आज भी मज़बूत है, मगर अफसोस की दूसरों के घरों पर पत्थर मारने वाला NDA अपना घर ही नहीं बचा पाया। https://t.co/OKhfmjXMyd

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) September 18, 2023

Mr Chadha’s comment comes amid reports of disagreements and infighting within INDIA, particularly as it negotiates seat-sharing pacts in Bengal, Delhi and Punjab. 

READ | Need To Fight Together With INDIA Bloc: Sonia Gandhi’s Unity Message

The AAP is the ruling party in the latter two states and there are whispers that some within the party do not look kindly on an alliance with the Congress. And in Bengal (and Kerala) there are more than mere whispers after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said it would not ally with anyone.

READ | Left Blow To INDIA Unity? No Bengal, Kerala Tie-Ups, Say Sources

The CPIM’s main rivals are the Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool.

Nilotpal Basu, a former Rajya Sabha MP, told NDTV “there are differences (within INDIA)… it is a reality” but left his foot in the door, saying the decision “doesn’t negate a (future) alliance”.

However, in Tamil Nadu the Congress and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – the AIADMK’s sworn rival – have all but agreed terms to continue what has been, so far, a successful alliance.

AIADMK v BJP In Tamil Nadu?

Earlier today senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said his party had broken ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party with the 2024 Lok Sabha election and state polls around the corner. 

The party is furious about BJP state unit leader K Annamalai’s comments on the late CN Annadurai, who was AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran’s mentor.

READ | AIADMK Says No BJP Alliance For Now, Will Decide Before Polls

Mr Annamalai frequently mocks both his ally and rival – – leading to talk the BJP is trying to play one Dravidian party against the other to create space for itself in a state that has historically rejected it.

However, top BJP sources have told NDTV the squabble will be sorted out.