Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from the Trinamool Congress last month, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of the party’s national President JP Nadda.
Ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the ruling AIADMK allotted 20 seats as well as the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat to its ally BJP after several rounds of negotiations.
In a statement, signed by AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami, the party pledged full support to the candidates of the BJP in the polls.
Following a complaint by the Trinamool Congress earlier this week, the Election Commission has directed the Union Government to stop using images of PM Narendra Modi on Covid-19 vaccination certificates in poll-bound states.
Sources said the EC wrote to the Health Ministry on Friday reiterating its standing instructions against promoting the party in power through government means when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in force.
Meanwhile, amid a high-pitch campaign in West Bengal, Prime Minister Modi has directed state BJP leaders to ensure the party does not indulge in name-calling or abuses and keep the campaigning positive, according to sources.
Surjitt Sahani
