Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | NDA closes ranks as DMK grapples with ally rifts

Madurai: Over the last week, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and AMMK chief T T V Dhinakaran, who have never seen eye-to-eye for over eight years, have jointly campaigned for the candidates of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

On April 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a road show with EPS and former TN BJP chief K Annamalai in Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district.

The former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer, who fought running battles with AIADMK during his tenure as BJP chief, is campaigning statewide for the candidates of the Dravidian party alongside other NDA nominees. He is campaigning not just in western Tamil Nadu, where he hails from, but across the state.

The NDA, once criticised for non-cohesiveness amid ideological clashes and personal rivalries, now puts up a strong show of unity across the state in its final push against the formidable DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).

In fact, the SPA looked more united at the beginning of the year, but the cohesiveness derailed due to persisting differences between DMK and its allies such as the Congress, and VCK over sharing of seats.

The ruling alliance is now battling criticism of lack of unity, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has not yet hitting the campaign trail in Tamil Nadu. Questions still linger whether he will share stage with Chief Minister M K Stalin.

Only on April 15, Stalin campaigned along with DMDK’s Premalatha Vijayakanth and MNM’s Kamal Haasan in Salem, but other leaders of the SPA are largely campaigning for their own party candidates.

Palaniswami and Dhinakaran appeared together on a campaign van in Thanjavur in the heart of the Cauvery Delta region last weekend sending the crowd into ruptures.

Their joint appearance has enthused cadres in the NDA camp with the AMMK holding a significant influence among Mukulathors, the caste to which Dhinakaran belongs – his party contesting alone in 2021 polls did hurt the AIADMK in the region. And within days, both made a joint appearance in Theni district, where Dhinakaran enjoys good support.

“We didn’t expect our leaders to put up such a spirited campaign this election. We thought they may campaign separately, but their joint appearance has enthused cadres of both parties,” a senior AIADMK leader said, adding that their campaign will help counter the Sasikala factor as she has also fielded candidates.

Senior journalist Maalan Narayanan told DH that the show of unity between constituents of the NDA was born out of compulsion as they have to project themselves as the primary force against the DMK with actor Vijay’s TVK is visible and vociferous across the state.

“If Vijay gets a substantial votes, he will take a chunk of the anti-incumbency votes from the NDA. That is where it becomes necessary for the NDA to show ground-level coherence to prevent the erosion of the votes. EPS, TTV, and Annamalai have give the energy to the NDA campaign which lacked punch till a month ago,” Narayanan added.

He contrasted this with the DMK’s campaign which is largely led by Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi, and Kanimozhi in some places. “By campaigning only in the last leg of the elections, Rahul Gandhi has let down his own party candidates,” he added.