Amit Shah arrives in Tamil Nadu's Madurai to rev up party machinery for 2026 Assembly poll

Madurai (Tamil Nadu): Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah arrived here on Saturday night, his second crucial visit to Tamil Nadu in two months, to rev up the party machinery ahead of the 2026 Assembly election in the state.

His visit has materialised exactly a week after the ruling DMK conducted its crucial general council meeting here and passing resolutions condemning the Centre.

It also comes in the backdrop of a wrangle for leadership among the father-son duo in the PMK, BJP’s ally, and amidst a resentment expressed by DMDK, an ally of the opposition AIADMK with whom Shah cobbled up an alliance during his April 10 visit to Chennai, over not allotting a Rajya Sabha seat to it (DMDK) as promised by the AIADMK in 2024.

Further, former Chief Minister and ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam had recently regretted that Shah had not called on him during the Chennai visit. His position like that of T T V Dhinakaran, though heading a fringe party, is still unclear about their support to the BJP's NDA.

A senior leader in the BJP claimed that the disarray in the NDA camp and fissures in the PMK would not mar the poll prospects of the NDA in the state. “The differences will be sorted out soon and we will face the election as a strong force to defeat the DMK,” state Vice President M Chakravarthy said.

Interestingly, Shah’s visit to the state is the second one after the state chief K Annamalai was replaced by Nainar Nagenthiran, who hails from the southern district of Tirunelveli, close to Madurai.

A source in the BJP said Nagenthiran would consolidate the NDA allies and strive for the victory of the combine at the hustings.

Besides Nagenthiran, former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, former Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan and former AIADMK Minister Sellur Raju, were among those who received the Home Minister at the airport here.

“Reached Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Keen to meet the vibrant karyakartas of the @BJP4TamilNadu in various organisational programs scheduled for tomorrow,” Shah had earlier said in a post on the social media platform X.

He would commence the day’s activities with an auspicious start by visiting the renowned Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. Apart from attending the TN BJP’s core committee meeting, Shah would interact with the party office bearers later in the day.