AIADMK And BJP Team Up Again For Tamil Nadu Polls Under EPS' Leadership

Tamil Nadu's opposition party AIADMK and the BJP will contest the state elections together under the leadership of former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today at a joint press conference in Chennai.

The two parties were in an alliance earlier too. The assembly election for which both have joined hands is scheduled next year.

"We will make a common minimum programme if needed," Mr Shah, flanked by EPS and state BJP chief K Annamalai, told reporters.

Mr Shah reminded of a huge win in the Lok Sabha in 1998 when the BJP and AIADMK formed an alliance helmed by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The BJP-AIADMK alliance at one point won 30 of 39 Lok Sabha seats, he said.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will comfortably win in Tamil Nadu, Mr Shah said.

On how the alliance would work out, the Home Minister said the BJP will not interfere in AIADMK's internal matters.

To a question about the finer details of the alliance, Mr Shah in a lighter vein requested people to allow the BJP to handle some matters on its own and not overburden the AIADMK.

"Let us also do some work. You don't worry about everything. Leave some worries for us to handle too," the Home Minister said.

The announcement came after the BJP announced the nomination of Nainar Nagenthiran as the party's Tamil Nadu chief to replace K Annamalai. Mr Shah thanked Mr Annamalai for his "unprecedented contributions" to the party. The BJP will leverage the young leader's organisational skills in the party's national framework, Mr Shah said.

The BJP said the alliance announcement has no link whatsoever with the decision to replace Mr Annamalai, as the decision to fight the election in a tie-up with the AIADMK was already decided.

In the previous two elections - the Lok Sabha and the last assembly polls - -the AIADMK struggled to perform strongly. The AIADMK entered into an alliance with the BJP after Jayalalithaa's death in 2016.

During the 2021 state elections, the AIADMK and the BJP were in alliance, which resulted in the BJP winning four seats. However, the AIADMK severed ties with the BJP in 2023.