Chennai, Dec 04: In a shift in its policy of keeping equi-distance from both the DMK and the AIADMK, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP today said both the parties could not be treated alike. H Raja, general secretary of the BJP's state unit, told reporters here that DMK was a partner in the NDA government headed by his party at the Centre, while the AIADMK was in the opposition. "How can we treat both the parties alike", he asked.

Only last week, the party said it would keep equi- distance from both the parties.

He denied that the BJP was closer to AIADMK than the DMK in the state. "It is absurd to say like this. Show me one incident, in which both parties shared a common platform after the Vajpayee government was defeated by one vote in the Lok Sabha in 1999," he said.

"It is a myth created by the media to report that the AIADMK and BJP are coming closer," he said. On the question of alliance for the next Lok Sabha polls, he said the state unit would abide by the decision taken by the party high command on the matter.

He said the BJP's impressive showing in the elections to four state assembly polls had only proved that the party's popularity among the masses were increasing. Bureau Report