(CNBC TV18)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, April 11, announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections together, reviving their alliance nearly two years after parting ways. He declared that the polls would be fought under the leadership of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).
“This alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK,” Shah said at a press conference in Chennai, flanked by Palaniswami and outgoing BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai.
Shah stressed that the BJP would not interfere in AIADMK’s internal matters. “AIADMK has no conditions and demands… We will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK,” he said.
He noted that the alliance would be anchored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and EPS in Tamil Nadu. “We will form a government together led by Edappadi Palaniswami,” Shah said, indicating a coalition government if the NDA secures a majority.
The AIADMK and BJP had parted ways just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a move that paved the way for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to sweep all 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu.
Had the two parties stayed united, they might have posed a more formidable challenge to the DMK-Congress-Left alliance led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, which won a landslide victory.
Recalling the longstanding relationship between the two parties, he said, “From 1998, AIADMK has been part of BJP alliance (at different points of time). PM Modi and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had worked for Centre-state ties.”
On potential differences between the allies, Shah said they would “sit and discuss” any issues and work out a Common Minimum Programme if needed.
He also took aim at the ruling DMK, accusing it of distracting from governance failures by stirring debates on Sanatan Dharma, the three-language policy, and delimitation. Shah claimed that voters were looking for answers on several alleged scams and would prioritise real issues at the ballot box.
The announcement signals a significant shift in Tamil Nadu politics, with EPS emerging as the NDA’s chief ministerial face to challenge the DMK in 2026.
