By Deccan Herald –

As the fifth state conference of the BJP got off with an impressive start at a sprawling venue in the Temple city of Madurai on Thursday, its spotlight fixed on the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils, indicating the party’s plan to woo the Tamil voters.

BJP National President Nitin Gadkari

‘Thamarai Sangamam’ (the grand lotus congregation) seemed like part of the BJP’s nationwide effort to bring back NDA to power in Delhi.

As Tamil Nadu is seen as a state which will play a key role in it’s plans, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to woo the Tamil population. Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj led a delegation to Sri Lanka last month to study the plight of the Tamils.
The two-day conference kept up the tempo by focusing on the problems of ethnic Tamils’ in Srilanka. BJP National President Nitin Gadkari took a swipe at the UPA for “doing nothing” to stop the killings of innocent Tamils. He blamed the Congress for the rising cases of farmers’ suicides in Maharashtra, the increasing unemployment and the economic slowdown.

The meet passed a resolution demanding that the internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka be resettled in their original places at the earliest. It added that the Centre should expedite the construction of 50,000 houses promised to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

The leaders said the frequent attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan security forces must end  immediately.