BJP-AIADMK alliance hits rough patch over coalition government debate ahead of 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls

Chennai: Two months after the BJP and AIADMK formally announced their tie-up for next year’s assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, irritants have begun to crop up in the alliance over a host of issues, including divergent views on the composition of the government to be formed if the combine wins the polls.

While the AIADMK has always maintained that only the party will form the government in the event of the alliance emerging victorious, and that the understanding was only for contesting the polls, the BJP feels otherwise, with many asserting that 2026 will witness the ushering in of a coalition era in the state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration on June 8 in Madurai that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form a coalition government under the AIADMK and its leader Edappadi K Palaniswami has led to disquiet in the Dravidian party.

While the AIADMK hasn’t formally contested Shah’s claims, the party’s second-rung leaders are at pains to explain that the senior BJP leader has already clarified that Palaniswami is the NDA’s leader in Tamil Nadu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader nationally, and that there should be no confusion in this regard.

Adding fuel to the fire were remarks by former state BJP chief K Annamalai, who said not just the saffron party but other parties like the PMK and DMDK have also expressed their opinion that Tamil Nadu being ruled by a coalition government is not far away.

While several BJP cadres and functionaries supported Annamalai’s pitch for the party being part of a coalition government, state BJP chief Nainar Nagendran has been taking a middle path, saying Palaniswami will be the leader of the alliance and that he will be the Chief Minister by defeating the DMK.

There is also a heated debate on social media platforms among BJP supporters, who accuse the current leadership of “surrendering” before the AIADMK and want it to put its foot down and assert its authority. They also want the party to take note of Annamalai’s “hard work” that resulted in the BJP securing 11 per cent of the votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which they say should be the basis on which seats are shared.

AIADMK deputy floor leader in the Assembly, R B Uthayakumar, also echoed Nainar over the weekend and made a veiled attack against Annamalai by saying people shouldn’t take seriously the remarks of those who want to “remain in the news.”

The AIADMK is under pressure from its cadre to keep stressing that there won’t be a coalition government if the NDA were to win the election, as they feel people of the state wouldn’t be comfortable with such an arrangement.

For the record, Dravidian parties have been against sharing power with alliance partners, though they have consistently fought polls with other parties except on rare occasions.

“It is a tough situation for us. Our leader continues to say that the alliance is only for elections, but Amit Shah keeps repeating it will be an NDA government, which creates a lot of confusion. It won’t be possible for the AIADMK to announce that it will be a coalition government even if such a situation becomes inevitable after the polls,” an AIADMK leader told DH.

The leader also said the BJP should direct its leaders not to speak out of turn and make statements on a coalition government, which could be detrimental to the tie-up.