'BJP, AIADMK talking, will announce decision once finalised': Amit Shah fans alliance buzz

Chennai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has admitted that the BJP and AIADMK have launched formal talks to clinch an alliance for the 2026 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, three days after he met a high-powered delegation from the Dravidian outfit.

Shah’s statement assumes significance as AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said he didn’t discuss politics with the Union Home Minister during their meeting earlier this week.

“As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, our friends in the AIADMK and leaders in the BJP are talking. When a decision is arrived at, we will make it public,” Shah told a summit organised by an English news channel. He also added that the 2026 assembly elections will witness the downfall of the DMK regime and a new NDA government in power, leading to speculation that the BJP could push the AIADMK for a coalition government.

Saturday also saw Shah welcoming senior AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan, who has been upset with the way EPS has been running the party. DH had on March 26 reported that the Shah-EPS meeting could culminate in the AIADMK and BJP coming together after a messy split in 2023.

Sources told DH on Saturday that since ice has been broken, the two parties will now iron out differences between them before arriving at the decision to clinch the alliance. They also said EPS as Leader of Opposition might welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Madurai during his visit to Rameswaram on April 6.

“The thinking within the BJP is that the alliance should be stitched within a few months so that it can hit the ground at least six to eight months before the polls. We need to create a momentum on the ground because the DMK alliance is a coherent unit whose arithmetic strength has been proven multiple times. We have to be quick in our strategies,” the source added.

With actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), projecting itself as the prime opponent to the ruling DMK, the sources said it becomes imperative for both parties to ensure that the alliance works on the ground. AIADMK has also told the BJP that it wasn’t willing to take back rebels like T T V Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam into the party and that the saffron party should respect its decision.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin, in an iftar party, accused Palaniswami of “travelling overnight” to New Delhi to meet Shah and called out his “double standards” over his support to minority communities. “They hold iftar parties but they will never support Muslims when they are in trouble,” he said.