In a major boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, a group of 15 former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs and one former MP joined the saffron party on Wednesday. The induction ceremony of these leaders took place in New Delhi in the presence of union ministers Rajeev Chandrasekhar, L Murugan, and state BJP president K Annamalai.

Addressing a press conference, Annamalai said the Tamil Nadu leaders have brought a “wealth of experience” with them to the BJP. “They want to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is coming back to power for a straight third term…Tamil Nadu is going the Bharatiya Janata Party way,” he said.

Taking an apparent dig at the DMK and AIADMK, the state BJP president said the group of MLAs and former MP have “seen things happening in Tamil Nadu”.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar emphasised that such a large group of leaders joining the BJP shows Modi’s popularity in the south, especially in Tamil Nadu where the BJP has not been a big force. Asserting that the BJP will win over 370 seats in the upcoming general elections, the union minister claimed that many of the new seats will come from Tamil Nadu.

“It is clear that every citizen of India wants the transformation of the last 10 years to continue,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)