Hyderabad: Seeking to assuage the ruffled feelings of its alliance partner Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on August 16 said it did not want to "leave any ally" though it would "welcome anybody" supporting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in defeating the Opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the government.

"We are comfortable with our allies. We do not want to leave them but want to take them along with us," BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on "India's growth and challenges in global trade" in Hyderabad.

Stating that NDA was "comfortably placed" in the Lok Sabha to defeat the no-confidence motion, he said some parties outside the NDA like Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and some independent groups had pledged support to the government.

"Whoever is willing to give support, we will take. Nobody is untouchable. Everybody is welcome," Naidu said.

He said the NDA government was determined to convert the Opposition challenge into an opportunity and place before the nation its achievements.

Responding to DMK's concerns over filing of cases against Karunanidhi and other leaders by the Jayalalithaa government on charges of instigating the government employees' strike recently, Naidu said his party was 'not in agreement' with the state government on the issue of invoking Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) against political leaders.

"ESMA is not meant to be applied in the case of political opponents," the BJP chief added.

PTI