AIADMK slams BJP for 'hijacking' its icons MGR, Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu’s main opposition AIADMK on Sunday condemned the BJP for its ”cheap politics” of ”appropriating” its late leaders, M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.

When asked about the reported use of images of MGR and Jayalalithaa by the Puducherry unit of the BJP in its campaign on social media, senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said his party leaders in the union territory have already condemned it. Appropriation of AIADMK stalwarts is ”cheap politics and this is condemnable”, he told reporters.

”The BJP should be ashamed. Does the BJP not have even a little sense of shame? It is a party that has no shame. Why you (BJP) have bet on our leaders; it shows that you have no faith on your party leaders,” he charged.

”If the BJP is aiming at ”deceiving” people to get their votes by appropriating AIADMK icons — late chief ministers M G Ramachandran and ‘Amma’ Jayalalithaa — it is not going to happen, as the stalwarts belong only to the AIADMK,” Jayakumar said. In his recent rallies in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invoked the legacy of MGR as well as Jayalalithaa.

The AIADMK had severed its ties with the BJP last year.