CHENNAI: Five months after AIADMK and the BJP-led NDA renewed their ties for facing the 2026 Assembly elections, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by TTV Dhinakaran snapped ties with NDA on Wednesday.
The decision, announced by Dhinakaran during an interaction with the media on Wednesday at Kattumannarkoil in Cuddalore district, came a month after former CM O Panneerselvam’s AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee (ACRRC) snapped ties with NDA. The two were with NDA for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, prior to which AIADMK had exited the alliance.
The exit of AMMK came a day ahead of AIADMK’s senior leader KA Sengottaiyan’s anticipated meeting on Friday, where he is expected to pitch for strengthening AIADMK by bringing back expelled leaders like Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam.
Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran’s exit, if not reversed before the elections, will impact the prospects of the AIADMK-BJP alliance as the two belonged to the Mukkulathor community, which has an influential presence mainly in southern districts
Dhinakaran, expressing dissatisfaction with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said, “..the betrayer (Palaniswami) has been expressing arrogance and creating an impression that what they have done is correct. How can the AMMK cadre accept this?”
Pointing out that AMMK wished for all followers of late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa to come under one roof, he said, “I, too, expected that there would be an opportunity for that. On the contrary, it is the betrayal, which has been ruling the roost for the past few months (in NDA).”
Dhinakaran said AMMK, which was launched in protest against the ‘betrayal’ by certain people in AIADMK, expected the “betrayers” to mend their ways or BJP would make them do so. “We have been waiting for the Delhi leaders to make a good decision on this. However, there is no such sign. We are treading our own path and will make our further decision in December,” he said.
He added that AMMK cadres were not that naive to carry the “betrayers” on their shoulders. Dhinakaran’s decision came on the day when the state BJP’s core committee held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
AMMK’s exit, the recent dissatisfaction expressed by DMDK, the continuing internal tussle in PMK, and overtures made by some of these parties towards actor Vijay’s TVK have made Palaniswami’s repeated assertion of AIADMK forming a “formidable” alliance for 2026 appear a remote possibility.