CHENNAI: Eighteen months after snapping ties with BJP and quitting NDA, AIADMK leadership is warming up to the saffron party for a possible revival of the alliance for the 2026 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
A 45-minute meeting between an AIADMK delegation led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday night initiated the reconciliation, multiple sources told TOI.
The meeting, which began at 9.30 pm on Tuesday, was described as cordial, with both sides seeking to soften their stance. The discussion is said to have centred around Tamil Nadu politics. “Both want the relationship to be taken forward. The next course of action will follow. Amit Shah made a strong point, sa- ying the ‘corrupt DMK govt’ must not return in 2026,” said a senior AIADMK leader. Shah responded positively to some of AIADMK’s demands, he said.
Palaniswami told reporters in Delhi that the meeting was planned to address issues concerning people of Tamil Nadu, including delimitation, two-language policy, and pending dues in MGNREGS and SSA schemes, besides the Tasmac scam. He said the alliance would be determined based on the circumstances closer to the 2026 election.
BJP national co-in-charge of Tamil Nadu P Sudhakar Reddy is scheduled to meet Shah and party national president J P Nadda on Wednesday night. BJP state president K Annamalai left for Delhi on Wednesday.
Even as the AIADMK delegation was meeting Shah, the Union minister’s official X handle had a message related to the 2026 Tamil Nadu elec- tion. “As soon as the NDA govt is formed in Tamil Nadu in the year 2026, the ‘flood of liquor’ and ‘storm of corruption’ will stop.” The message was also posted in Tamil. Palaniswami acknowledged the post as reflecting Shah’s views. AIADMK had snapped its ties with BJP in September 2023 after taking offence to some statements Annamalai made against C N Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa. Earlier, some AIADMK leaders had spoken about how Annamalai’s removal from the state BJP president’s post could make an AIADMK-BJP reunion easier. After the meeting with Shah, however, the AIADMK team has been tightlipped on the matter.
“We don’t have anything personal against Annamalai, but AIADMK cadres were upset because of his attacks against our leaders. We will have a formidable alliance in 2026,” a former AIADMK minister said.