Chennai, Jul 7 (IANS): BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday hit out against alliance partner AIADMK leader C.Ve. Shanmughan, who had, at party programme on Tuesday night, said that his party had lost the 2021 Assembly elections due to its tie-up with the BJP as there was a major shift of the minority votes.

BJP state General Secretary Karu Nagarajan, in a statement, said: "It's a known fact that the DMK would garner the minority votes in large numbers. Winning and losing elections is common in politics and a senior and seasoned politician like C.Ve. Shanmugham should look into the factors that led to the defeat of the alliance."

The BJP leader, lashing out against the former state minister, said: "Being a minister, he lost his constituency. However, Shanmugham was known for controversial statements and deviated from his party's stand on several occasions. We look at this as an individual's statement rather than the stand of the leadership of the alliance party."

BJP General Secretary K.T. Raghavan said that the BJP has, in its internal review meetings, found that certain decisions taken by the AIADMK government had led to the electoral losses.

BJP leader and movie star Khushbu Sundar, in a tweet, sought to refute Shanmugan's speech, saying: "It is actually the other way round".

BJP spokesperson, Narayanan Thirupathy downplayed the former minister's statement and said that the BJP does not take it seriously. Talking to IANS, he said: "It is an individual's statement and unless AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam or former Chief Minister and Joint Coordinator, K. Palaniswami issues a statement, there is no need for the BJP to comment."