Ravishankar Prasad meets Jayalalithaa, bonds over schemes

CHENNAI: Union law minister Ravishankar Prasad on Thursday hinted at a broad understanding with the AIADMK government without compromising the interests of NDA allies in the state.
“BJP has a convergence of interest on certain issues with AIADMK but the existing alliance with regional Tamil parties will continue,” he said when asked if his party may have to depend on AIADMK to win seats in the 2016 assembly elections.

Talking to reporters at the state BJP headquarters where he addressed cadres in the evening, Prasad said he saw a “promising future for BJP in Tamil Nadu with the declining clout of DMK and Congress at an all-time low”.

While people in Tamil Nadu are looking for an alternative, BJP needs to work hard and be united for occupying that political space, he said admitting that the party had a “modest presence” in the state.

“But I see a great scope for BJP’s growth in the state. Our vote numbers are up,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Prasad had a 45-minute meeting with the chief minister J Jayalalithaa at the secretariat. “We exchanged views on state and national issues and I explained about the various schemes introduced by PM Modi,” said Prasad, who also holds portfolios of communications and information technology.