AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi Tuesday evening, in the first formal talks between the two parties towards reaching an understanding for the 2026 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
Sources said that two-three more rounds are expected before a final decision is taken on Palaniswami returning to the NDA – an alliance that the AIADMK general secretary has been resisting.
The AIADMK, Tamil Nadu’s main opposition party, ended its alliance with the BJP in September 2023 ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls due to differences with the BJP’s state leadership.
The decision came after senior AIADMK leaders called on BJP chief JP Nadda, expressing concerns over Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai’s aggressive politics. They had demanded either his apology for remarks on Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai or his replacement.
There is a view that if the AIADMK and the BJP revive their alliance, they will put up a strong challenge to the ruling DMK-led INDIA bloc in the state. The AIADMK has seen erosion of its vote share over the years.
In recent Lok Sabha and assembly elections, AIADMK has struggled to perform strongly and has also dealt with internal factionalism. Meanwhile, the BJP is eager to strengthen its foothold in Tamil Nadu after failing to secure a seat in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Sources said that at Tuesday’s talks, one of the decisions taken by the AIADMK and BJP was to step up individual campaigns against the DMK government and Stalin, particularly on the issue of corruption. The BJP believes Stalin is evoking emotional issues such as delimitation and language policy in order to deflect attention from this issue.
Among the conditions the AIADMK has laid, sources said, is the formation of a high-powered steering committee to oversee dealings with the BJP – whose authority, importantly, would outrank Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai .
Thus giving the impression that the AIADMK top leadership is conferring directly with the BJP high command. Annamalai’s relentless attacks on AIADMK leaders are believed to have been one of the key reasons for the break-up of the alliance in 2023.
