Chennai: An embarrassing show in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, unfruitful alliance talks with Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kalagam (TVK), and an insistence from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders particularly from western region led to Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) deciding to put his ego aside and hold out an olive branch to the BJP, ThePrint has learnt.
A senior AIADMK leader from Tamil Nadu’s western region told ThePrint that the leaders within the party were pursuing AIADMK to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to defeat the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the next year’s assembly polls.
“Although we had differences in opinion with what (BJP state chief) Annamalai had said in the past, still we pursued (AIADMK general secretary) EPS to hold talks with the BJP’s top leadership and reunite the ties. Because, that’s the only way to defeat the DMK. There is no ray of hope in sight, if the opposition is divided,” the senior leader confirmed.
According to the senior AIADMK functionary, former ministers from the western region were all for the alliance with the BJP, while those in the northern part were against the alliance.
“EPS became the chief minister and even became the party’s general secretary largely with the help of these former ministers in the western region. Hence, he could not reject their demands, but he was slow in his process,” the senior leader said.
Belonging to the Gounder community, a dominant Backward community in the Western region of Tamil Nadu, EPS drew a major support from the region amid his tussle with O. Panneerselvam (OPS) for the party’s reins.
In the 2021 assembly election, of the 58 assembly seats in the western region, the AIADMK alliance won in about 30 seats and the DMK won in 28 seats. In Coimbatore district, where the AIADMK and the BJP are considerably strong, the alliance won in all the 10 seats.
The senior leader also stated that there were also pressures from the BJP’s central leadership to hold talks with the party’s high command over the possible alliance for 2026.
“Though our leaders and the BJP state leadership were not on good terms, we were still on good terms with the BJP’s national leadership and national co-incharge for Tamil Nadu, Sudhakar Reddy. Hence, we renewed the talks for a possible alliance,” the senior leader from the western region told ThePrint.
Political analyst Arun Kumar opined that it was an attempt to consolidate the anti-DMK votes under one fold. “AIADMK largely thrived only on the anti-DMK votes. People believed that it was only the AIADMK that could defeat the DMK. Now, when they find a lot of alternatives to defeat the ruling DMK, the votes tend to split. So, this attempt shows that the opposition parties are desperate to consolidate the anti-DMK votes,” the professor of political science at a private university told ThePrint.
Also Read: An iftar party, an EPS-Amit Shah meeting, stage set for BJP-AIADMK tie-up in 2026 TN polls
What led to re-think
The sharp decline in the voteshare after severing the ties with BJP is stated as one of the reasons by the AIADMK leaders to re-join hands.
The AIADMK, which had been anti-Congress and anti-BJP between 2004 and 2014, joined hands with the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
In 2019, the DMK alliance, including the Congress, the Left parties and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), won in 38 of the 39 constituencies. Its voteshare was 52.64 percent. On the other hand, the AIADMK alliance secured a voteshare of around 30.28 percent and managed to win only one seat. The AIADMK alone secured a voteshare of 19.39 percent and the lone seat went to its kitty.
In the 2021 assembly elections as well, there was not any change in the alliance equation between the parties and the DMK-led alliance won in 159 seats of the 234 seats securing 45.38 percent of votes and the AIADMK alliance won in 75 seats securing 39.71 percent of votes.
However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK contested in 34 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats and secured only 20.46 percent of the votes. Worse, it drew a blank. The primary opposition party was runner-up in 24 constituencies, came third in as many as 14 others and fourth in one place.
Political commentator Priyan remarked that the recent Lok Sabha results shows that the AIADMK’s voteshare has seen a sharp decline. “The sharp decline in the voteshare shows that the AIADMK is losing its confidence among the people that it could defeat DMK. Hence, it is looking for an alliance on the expediency to counter the DMK,” the political analyst said.
Failed talks with Vijay’s TVK
Nevertheless, the AIADMK also held talks with the actor-turned politician Vijay’s TVK, which eventually did not materialise, according to sources from both the parties.
Another senior leader, who was part of the discussion with TVK, shared that the demands of the party were so high that AIADMK leaders could not even negotiate with them.
“The first and foremost demand itself was to make Vijay as the CM candidate. Then, out of the 234 seats, they wanted to contest in half of them They treated us as if we are a junior party to the newly formed TVK,” the former AIADMK minister told ThePrint, adding that they felt that it was better to rejoin the NDA rather than to be a junior partner in the newly formed TVK alliance.
Nevertheless, the AIADMK and the TVK officially maintain that there had never been talks regarding a possible alliance for the 2026 assembly election.
As for rejoining the NDA, the AIADMK maintained that there was not any talks over alliance even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a television show Friday, confirmed that the BJP leaders were in talks with the AIADMK.
A senior leader in the BJP confirmed to ThePrint that the NDA is taking “every effort to unite the opposition voices” in Tamil Nadu.
If the two parties come together, Tamil Nadu is again heeded for a four-cornered fight like in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “However, a split in the anti-DMK voteshare would only benefit the DMK. Hence, we are also in talks with Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK),” a BJP leader from the western region confirmed.
Political commentator Priyan said that the 2026 assembly elections could be tough for the DMK if such an alliance materialises. “While the AIADMK is only looking for a potential alliance partner, the BJP is pushing hard to gain a foothold in the state. But, it is uncertain that Seeman would join in an alliance with the BJP,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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