In message to BJP, EPS says AIADMK will form government as ‘single largest party’

Addressing a party meeting at Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district on Sunday night, he further said no one would be able to “swallow” the AIADMK as alleged by the DMK.
A senior AIADMK functionary said the assertion of EPS that the AIADMK would form the government by securing a majority could in fact be taken as a response to Shah.
A senior AIADMK functionary said the assertion of EPS that the AIADMK would form the government by securing a majority could in fact be taken as a response to Shah.Photo | P JAWAHAR
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CHENNAI: Desisting from directly responding to Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah’s recent remarks that Tamil Nadu will have an NDA coalition government in 2026 led by the AIADMK, leader of the opposition and AIADMK’s general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the party will win “more seats” and form government as the “single largest party”.

Addressing a party meeting at Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district on Sunday night, he further said no one would be able to “swallow” the AIADMK as alleged by the DMK.

The idea of a coalition government has been a sticking point in the AIADMK-BJP alliance right from the day it was announced by Shah in Chennai on April 11, when he said that the alliance will win the 2026 Assembly election and form a coalition government.

As this did not go down well with AIADMK’s rank and file since Tamil Nadu has never had a coalition government, Palaniswami, who maintained silence initially, told the media a few days later that Shah’s words were misinterpreted.

However, the issue has cropped up again as Shah, in a recent interview to a Tamil media outlet, clearly said that there will be coalition government in 2026 in TN and that the BJP will be a part of it.

Parties indulging in wordplay on HM’s coalition govt remarks, says AIADMK

While a few senior AIADMK leaders expressed disagreement with Shah’s remarks, Palaniswami had not reacted directly to him until now. On Sunday, his remarks of AIADMK forming the government as the “single largest party” came when he was attacking the ruling DMK for its alleged governance failure and blaming it for being scared of the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

Political analyst Tharasu Shyam said Palaniswami’s remarks indicated that the party would contest in a sizeable number of seats, say around 150, with the intention of securing a majority on its own.

“In 1980, when DMK and Congress shared almost an equal number of seats, Congress assured that M Karunanidhi would be the CM candidate. But seat allocation showed the potential for a coalition government after the election. At that time, Karunanidhi did not give a direct reply to the Congress, and Palaniswami is also doing that,” he added.

If the confusion continues, it would negatively impact the alliance as both the parties would appear to be pulling away in opposite directions, resulting in non-transfer of their vote-share to each other in the polls, Shyam said.

Former AIADMK MP KC Palanisamy said the remarks of EPS cannot be described as a response to Shah, since he glorified the alliance with the BJP in that meeting. “EPS wants to ignore the remarks of Shah since answering that will precipitate the scenario. Closer to the election, if the issue is alive, EPS may say that there will be no alliance if there is a demand for a coalition government,” KCP said. This ambiguity won’t augur well for the AIADMK, he added.

A senior AIADMK functionary said the assertion of EPS that the AIADMK would form the government by securing a majority could in fact be taken as a response to Shah.

On Palaniswami’s remarks, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Satyan told TNIE that it was a response to the narrative set by the DMK and its allies that the AIADMK cannot form its own government and is dependent on others. “Our leader has sent a clear message that we will form our own government and that no one can swallow our party,” he said. On Shah’s coalition government remarks, Satyan said there are efforts to indulge in wordplay using what Shah said.

On “confusion” within the NDA alliance, Union Minister of State L Murugan told reporters in Tiruchy that there was none. Any decisions on alliance structure or the CM candidate would be taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, he added.

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