All the plans of the national parties like the BJP and the Congress to take roots in Tamil Nadu politics have come to naught. Despite the absence of stalwarts like Jayalalithaa and her bete noire Karunanidhi, the Dravidian parties are in no mood to yield any quarter to the national parties.
The BJP tried to play big brother in Tamil politics post Jayalalithaa’s tragic exit. But, things came to naught as AIADMK played hardball. Ditto with the Congress Party, which felt that it can demand more seats from the DMK as an alliance partner. As for the BJP, the AIADMK has told in no uncertain terms that it cannot give more than 20 seats to the saffron party. Thus, the BJP will have to be content with a small number of seats. As a result, the BJP is unable to accommodate key leaders like Khushbu and actress Gauthami. The Congress was given 41 seats in the past. But since its strike rate is very low, the DMK this time has offered only 25 seats. The Congress, which fretted and fumed for some time, had to finally give in.
At the end of the day, it is clear that despite the absence of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, the Dravidian politics still pack a punch and their domination is set to continue. As of now, the two major national parties have no option but to play along.