G.K. Vasan and A.C. Shanmugam meet Piyush Goyal, reaffirm support to NDA

Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan and New Justice Party leader A.C. Shanmugam on Thursday met BJP’s Tamil Nadu election in-charge and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal in Chennai, reaffirming their continuation in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the upcoming Assembly poll.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Goyal said Mr. Vasan was a good friend whom he had known him for over 20 years. He also recalled working with Mr. Vasan in the Rajya Sabha. He said the NDA would win the Tamil Nadu Assembly poll with a thumping majority and ensure good governance and prosperity for all sections of Tamil Nadu.

To a question on whether the BJP will demand a share in power with the AIADMK if the NDA won the Assembly election, similar to a section of Congress leaders seeking power sharing with the DMK, Mr. Goyal said: “The NDA is a family, and we will work like a family.”

He also said: “The Congress is an expired cheque. The DMK-Congress alliance will lose. Congress went with the RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] in Bihar and people rejected them. The Congress went with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, and they lost. It does not have leadership. It is trying to launch a rocket, but the rocket is crashing again and again.”

Mr. Vasan said the NDA remained a strong and victorious alliance and it would unseat the “anti-people” DMK from power. His party would contest under its own symbol. Mr. Shanmugam claimed that he had been a part of the NDA for the last 25 years.

Puratchi Bharatham Katchi leader M. Jaganmoorthy and Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader John Pandian also met Mr. Goyal in Chennai. On Wednesday evening, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss and Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi leader T.R. Paarivendhar met Mr. Goyal.