Amit Shah urges party workers to strengthen BJP in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: BJP president Amit Shah today urged his partymen here to make good use of the present political situation in Tamil Nadu, to strengthen the saffron party's state unit, ahead of the next Assembly polls in 2016.

In a closed-door meeting, that Shah held with party workers, including senior leaders, he also exhorted them to actively increase the membership at the booth level, since that would be crucial for the party's fortune in the coming years.

A senior leader, who attended the meeting told that in his address in Hindi, Shah touched upon the present political situation in Tamil Nadu, where it is perceived that a "vacuum" has been created in the wake of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's conviction in an assets case, even as the DMK's fate hangs in the balance with two of its senior leaders being accused in the 2G allocation scam.

The leader did not divulge details but said Shah had adviced the state unit to make good use of the situation and declined to elaborate when asked if he disclosed any other strategy.

The BJP, riding on the Narendra Modi wave that catapulted the party to a single majority government at the Centre and its huge electoral successes in Haryana and Maharashtra, is now fancying its chances of emerging as an alternative to the traditional Dravidian parties -- AIADMK and DMK.

Even at yesterday's public rally addressed by Shah at Maraimalai Nagar near here, the stage carried a banner saying 'BJP 122 plus', apparently indicating at the simple majority numbers required to form a government in Tamil Nadu.