The BJP on Monday announced its decision to break away from the AIADMK alliance for the urban local body polls, scheduled on February 19, and to go it alone, while asserting that the AIADMK was still part of the NDA at the national level and the two parties will be in alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP’s decision was announced by its State president K. Annamalai, after the party’s demands for a large number of seats was rebuffed by the AIADMK, which went ahead and released two lists of candidates, one on Sunday night and another on Monday afternoon. The BJP becomes the second party to exit the AIADMK alliance following the PMK, which exited during the rural local body polls last year.

Mr. Annamalai said the decision came on the back of the demand of the party’s cadres in the State that it must contest the maximum number of seats in the urban local body polls. This was accepted by the party’s national leadership as well, he said and on this basis, the BJP held talks with the AIADMK.

“We have decided to fight the urban local body polls alone. However, we have informed the AIADMK’s leaders, O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami that our alliance will continue at the national level. This decision will help our party grow in the State and to take the the Lotus [BJP symbol] to every household in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

“We won’t call this a difficult decision. We are looking it as giving an opportunity to the tail-end party worker in the State, to give a voice to their demands,” Mr. Annamalai further said.

In the rural local body polls in nine districts last year, though there was an agreement at the top level over the alliance, it had become difficult to coordinate on the ground in eight districts, except Kallakurichi where it fought 9.1% seats, he said. This time, the AIADMK allotted 10% seats for the urban polls to the BJP, though the BJP had sought more, he said.According to him, there was no heartburn for the BJP over this decision.

Mr. Annamalai also referred to its MLA Nainar Nagendran’s barbs at the AIADMK leadership during a recent protest relating to the death of a class XII student of a school in Thanjavur, and said his remark was not a big issue and that the BJP leadership had expressed regret over the same to the AIADMK.

Mr. Annamalai said the BJP’s decision to go it alone would provide the party an opportunity to take information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schemes for the people of the State that are implemented at the local body level, [to all households].