Dhinakaran endorses Palaniswami as CM nominee after joining NDA

Chennai: After weeks of negotiations, AMMK led by T T V Dhinakaran on Wednesday formally re-joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), in a significant boost to the AIADMK-led combine as the move will unite the Mukulathor votes that were split between the two parties in the 2021 assembly polls. Dhinakaran also endorsed AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate.

Dhinakaran’s bete noire and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami “warmly” welcomed him into the alliance through a statement on his social media pages, though his party leaders were absent when Union Minister Piyush Goyal welcomed AMMK back into the NDA at a five-star hotel here.

As expected, Palaniswami and Dhinakaran said defeating the DMK in the 2026 assembly elections was the common thread that brought them together after eight years.

Dhinakaran was expelled from the AIADMK in September 2017 after Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam took over the reins of the party and months later he launched the AMMK, which has never won a seat on its own in the Assembly and Parliament election. He once vowed to uproot EPS’ political career but has now endorsed the AIADMK general secretary as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate.

“You know who our CM candidate is. We (AMMK and AIADMK) have issues between us but the state’s welfare is important,” Dhinakaran said. Sources told DH that the party is likely to be allotted anywhere between six to 10 seats in the NDA and it will contest on AMMK’s Pressure Cooker symbol.

Goyal is also likely to hold discussions with late actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK, and OPS as part of the efforts to give a final shape to the NDA before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally on January 23. Already, the NDA consists of AIADMK, BJP, PMK, and smaller parties like the TMC with the saffron party taking a concerted effort to stitch a rainbow coalition against the DMK alliance, which has won three consecutive elections.

The NDA wants to parade all its constituents at the PM’s meeting to project a “united face” at a time the DMK-Congress relationship is going through a strain.

Dhinakaran walking back into the NDA is a huge win for the BJP which hopes to consolidate the Mukulathor vote bank to further its base in Tamil Nadu. Since Dhinakaran holds considerable influence among Mukulathors, an umbrella term for Kallars, Maravars, and Agamudaiyars, who are spread across central and southern districts, the BJP did try to bring the AMMK into NDA in 2021 but Palaniswami stood firm against any such move.

The Mukulathors standing behind the TTV-OPS combo did help the NDA push the AIADMK into the third slot in many constituencies in the 2024 polls. This time, Union Home Minister Amit Shah put his foot down and asked Palaniswami not to raise objections to TTV’s presence in the NDA.

Though AIADMK agreed after much hesitation, Dhinakaran walked out of the NDA in September 2025 and announced that he won’t accept Palaniswami as the CM nominee. The party then deputed its former state chief K Annamalai to convince Dhinakaran not to ally with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) and come back to the NDA.

“The deal was clinched after Dhinakaran met Shah in New Delhi earlier this month. Dhinakaran was assured of due respect in the alliance,” the source said, adding that the Mukulathor votes will now stay with the NDA, which will help the alliance.

Dhinakaran’s apprehension was that the AIADMK may not work for AMMK candidates and might spoil their winning chances in the constituencies allotted to them, but Shah has assured that there won’t be any internal sabotage and everyone will work together for the victory of NDA nominees.