BJP And AIADMK Will Fight Tamil Nadu Election Together, Says JP Nadda

Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK and the BJP will fight the state election this year together, BJP chief JP Nadda said at a rally in Madurai today. This is the first time the BJP has formally announced it would fight the state election with the AIADMK. The Tamil Nadu party had in November last year said it would tie up with the BJP.

The BJP and the AIADMK had fought the general election together in 2019. After a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK hopes to trump rival DMK once again in the state where it has been in power for more than nine years now.

The AIADMK defeated the DMK in the 2011 assembly polls when former chief minister J Jayalalithaa led the party to a resounding victory. It won again in 2016 before the DMK bounced back with a strong performance in last year's Lok Sabha elections.

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan on Sunday hinted at realignment of political alliances in Tamil Nadu ahead of the assembly election next year, while not ruling out a possible tie-up with actor Rajinikanth, who is set to launch his party soon.

"The Lok Sabha alliance will continue for the assembly elections. We have given 10 years of good governance. Our alliance will win the 2021 polls. Tamil Nadu will always support PM [Narendra] Modi," Chief Minister E Palaniswami said in November last year during a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in Chennai.

A closely watched entrant in the state election is Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam. Mr Haasan has not ruled out political realignments before the election. "Alliances will break up and alliances will come together," the actor-turned politician told reporters in December in Madurai, where he launched his party's campaign for the election likely to be held in April-May.

Mr Haasan's party contested its first election in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, fielding candidates in 38 constituencies in the state, but failed to win any seat, polling only 3.77 per cent votes