CHENNAI: AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Friday in New Delhi that seat-sharing talks among alliance partners would be completed within four days, adding that there is no hitch in the process.
The AIADMK leader also stated that the party’s election manifesto would be released within a week.
“Our objective is to accommodate one another through mutual adjustments and ensure that each party contests in constituencies where it has winning prospects,” Palaniswami told reporters in New Delhi.
He also indicated that no other party is expected to join the NDA. He added that Union Minister Piyush Goyal would visit Chennai on Saturday to hold seat-sharing talks.
A visibly cheerful Palaniswami said he had discussed the political scenario in Tamil Nadu with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday night.
When asked why he was visiting New Delhi to finalise key issues, Palaniswami said, “I have visited Delhi only twice in the recent past. Since the Union Home Minister is busy with election work in four or five States, I have come to Delhi.”
On whether any other party would join the NDA, Palaniswami said it was unlikely, as parties have already aligned themselves with either the DMK alliance or the AIADMK alliance.
Regarding a possible alliance with the TVK, Palaniswami said both he and the party’s president had denied such a possibility. “The AIADMK is leading the NDA in Tamil Nadu. Neither our leaders nor the TVK leaders have held talks on an alliance,” he said.
Commenting on the visit of PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss and AMMK general secretary T. T. V. Dhinakaran to New Delhi to meet Amit Shah, Palaniswami said they would be discussing the political situation in Tamil Nadu.
“Unlike the DMK alliance, we will complete seat-sharing talks amicably, and the constituencies to be contested by each party will be announced,” he added.
On the AIADMK-led alliance’s prospects, Palaniswami expressed confidence, saying, “The electoral prospects for our alliance are bright in all 234 constituencies.”
When questioned about remarks made by certain AIADMK leaders against women, Palaniswami said there was no point in discussing the issue further, as the concerned leader had already apologised.
Meanwhile, DMK president and Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, in a letter to party cadres, criticised the AIADMK and its alliance partners for visiting Delhi to hold alliance talks.
Reiterating his stance that the 2026 Assembly elections are essentially a contest between Tamil Nadu and Delhi, Stalin said his claim was supported by the fact that key decisions within the opposition camp were being made in Delhi.
“If Tamil Nadu were to fall into the hands of those who require Delhi’s approval even to face the electorate, one can only imagine the hardship people would face. The people of Tamil Nadu clearly understand this and will never permit Delhi’s dominance or its subservient allies,” Stalin said.
Responding to Stalin’s remarks, T. T. V. Dhinakaran, who was leaving for New Delhi, said, “The Chief Minister asked whether we were going to Delhi to secure funds for Tamil Nadu. After the announcement of the election schedule, no funds can be allocated. Since the DMK is misusing the funds provided by the Central government, the people of Tamil Nadu are eager to defeat the DMK in the elections.”
He also clarified that the NDA is led by the BJP at the national level and by the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, and that he was travelling to meet BJP leaders.