Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Aug 12 (ANI): The BJP will lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2021 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the party's state unit vice president VP Duraisamy said on Wednesday.

"We will lead the alliance in Tamil Nadu since we are the national party," Duraisamy said at a press conference here.

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"DMK vs AIADMK was the trend till last week, but now it is BJP vs DMK and this shows our growth in Tamil Nadu," he added.

This however contrasts what Union Minister Piyush Goyal had said when he came to the state before the 2019 general elections. Goyal had said that while BJP will continue to be the decision maker on the national level it will fight the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in the leadership of AIADMK.

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Duraisamy had recently joined BJP after his removal from the post of deputy general secretary of the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in May, 2020. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)