Tamil Nadu BJP presient K Annamalai has flown to Delhi close on the heels of the visit of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswamy's meeting with Amit Shah in Delhi triggering speculations that an AIADMK-BJP tie-up is on the cards for the next year's assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
A day after meeting Amit Shah in Delhi, Palaniswamy on Wednesday denied having talked about alliance during his meeting with the union minister.
He claimed he discussed various issues relating to Tamil Nadu with Shah.
Palaniswamy kept the option of an possible alliance with BJP open whene said there is one more year for the election and alliances will change based on the situation.
Here, a comment made by BJP state vice president Nainar Nagenran in January 2025 is quite relevant.
Nagendran has said that the saffron party does not have to orchestrate raids by central authorities including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for bringing the AIADMK to the BJP fold.
As reported by The New Indian Express then, Nagendran said the alliance is possible only by having discussions with Edappadi Palaniswami. He was replying to media persons’ question as to whether the ED raids on Palaniswami’s relative is a ploy by the BJP to mount pressure on the AIADMK general secretary for coercing him into an AIADMK-BJP alliance.
The AIADMK presently is a shade of what it was when it was under the leadership of the late J Jayalalithaa. After her demise, the party had split into several factions and have lost its support base to a significant level.
How far an alliance with the BJP would help the AIADMK in the present political scenario when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin is taking on the Centre on various issues including delimitation and National Education Policy, one has to wait and see.