The BJP’s first woman President in Tamil Nadu has her task cut out – emerge as an alternative to the Dravidian parties that have held sway in the State. A gynaecologist by training, Tamilisai Soundararajan is a fiery speaker, and the daughter of Tamil Nadu’s former Congress chief, Kumari Ananthan. Her party’s electoral pitch is that the ‘corruption-free good governance’ of the Narendra Modi government can be provided in Tamil Nadu too, also wooing the 1.5-crore first-time voters in the State. “We will surely have a larger presence in the Assembly,” she told BusinessLine in an interview.
Based on what issues do you feel the BJP will be an alternative?
Corruption is a major problem. Whatever allegations were levelled against the AIADMK, are applicable to the DMK too. No way the DMK is better than the AIADMK on issues like corruption, governance and eradicating consumption of alcohol. People gave them an opportunity but they failed. People want a change and BJP is the only alternative that can approach people and fetch votes by saying we are not corrupt, [we are] a party striving for development, good governance and approachability. We have proved all these with many schemes in the last two years of the Central government under Narendra Modi. Tamil Nadu people deserve more.
They were all temporary, populist measures only to fetch votes.
How about the third front under Vijaykant?
It has become a joke. Vaiko is himself not confident of contesting and winning the elections. That being so, how can that combine (PWF-DMDK-TMC) be an alternative force?
BJP claims to have enrolled nearly 50 lakh members in Tamil Nadu. Will all of them vote for the party to boost your vote share?
I would love to get all the 50 lakh votes, but I cannot guarantee it because many factors may influence them in each constituency. We are expecting booth capturing. People are bribed and threatened with muscle power. We are in between two big rocks [Dravidian parties] and a plant [BJP] is trying to grow. It is difficult, but the plant will certainly grow bigger.
Will the lack of ground-level workers hamper the party’s prospects?
It is tough to change the mindset of traditional and loyal AIADMK and DMK voters as both parties have indulged in divisive politics and encashed emotions and provided freebies. We have to counter their money and muscle power. I believe the true value of the BJP will be respected by voters.
Who are the BJP’s target voters?
There are over 1.50 crore new, tech-savvy voters – more than the one crore others who did not vote in the last elections. We will leverage social media extensively to reach out to them. The two parties are creating artificial crowds in their meetings. We don’t want to do that.
Will Modi magic work this time?
Modi’s governance should gain in Tamil Nadu. People should think and vote. Last time, the National Democratic Alliance got 19.4 per cent votes, and are hoping that this time too, the same partners would continue with the NDA. But, it was unfortunate that the other leaders had their own ambitions and left us. I feel pity for them.
How confident are you in improving vote share?
During the Parliamentary elections, we were either first or second in 57 constituencies. Wherever the AIADMK stood first, we were second, and the DMK-Congress alliance was third. We had an alliance then. We still have a strong hold in places like Kanyakumari. We are fighting it out. Let’s hope for the best.