Home Minister Amit Shah will launch the Tamil Nadu BJP's "En Mann, En Makka" (my land, my people) yatra on July 28 in Rameshwaram as the party looks to strengthen its presence in the dravidian state in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
BJP national general secretary C T Ravi, who is in charge of the party's affairs for the state, said the yatra will be organised in five stages and traverse through Tamil Nadu before concluding in Chennai in the second week of January.
"I believe this yatra could be a game-changer. The BJP's popularity has been rising and there is a lot of anti-incumbency anger against the DMK government," Ravi told PTI, criticising M K Stalin-led dispensation over issues like corruption and poor law and order situation.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai will lead the "padyatra", seeking to revive the party's fortunes in a state where its ambition to emerge as a big player has remained unfulfilled amid a rise in its its strength under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in several other states, like West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana, where it was traditionally weak.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win more seats than the DMK-led opposition in the Lok Sabha polls, Ravi said.
The BJP is in alliance with the AIADMK and some other parties in the state. There is a view in the party that Annamalai with his aggression and vocal stand on a host of issues has been able to create a buzz in the state despite its inherent organisational weaknesses there.
Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats. The DMK-led alliance had swept the elections in 2019.
