BJP tries hard to get Jaya into NDA fold

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People take part in a procession of the Chandi Mata Machail Chhari Mubarak at Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday. — PTI

In an apparent bid to rope in the AIADMK into the NDA-fold, despite knowing well that the numbers were not in their favour, the BJP had offered to support an AIADMK candidate for the post of deputy chairperson in the Rajya Sabha, but the same was turned down by Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa.
According to sources, prior to deciding to support Congress candidate P.J. Kurien for the slot, BJP, which didn’t want to contest the poll fearing defeat, was willing to throw its weight behind a candidate fielded by Ms Jayalalithaa. This, the BJP thought would serve a double purpose of opposing the candidate of the Congress and at the same time get closer to Ms Jayalalithaa, sources said.
Sources also pointed to the fact that the BJP’s chief whip in the Upper House Ravishankar Prasad’s assertion, “We are looking at all options. If one of the regional parties puts up a candidate against Kurien, we are likely to extend support to him or her.”
The BJP also is desperately trying to expand the NDA and the saffron party believes that bringing in Ms Jayalalithaa would also convince Orissa strongman and chief minister of the state Naveen Patnaik to join the NDA bandwagon, sources added.
Though the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK is not formally a part of the NDA, they have been co-coordinating their political moves both within and outside Parliament. In the recently-held presidential poll, the BJP ended up supporting Ms Jayalalithaa-sponsored candidate P.A. Sangma after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam refused to enter the fray. Besides, BJP leaders like L.K. Advani and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi share a good personal rapport with the AIADMK leader.
The BJP, with an eye on the 2014 general elections, has been very particular not to be seen hobnobbing with the Congress and therefore decided to back a non-Congress nominee for the presidency and contest the vice-presidential polls directly. Its nominee — former Union minister Jaswant Singh — with the backing of Ms Jayalalithaa, unsuccessfully fought against incumbent Dr Hamid Ansari for the vice-presidency.