PM Modi to kickstart NDA's campaign for Tamil Nadu polls with rally near Chennai on January 23

While the PMK joined the NDA last week, AIADMK and BJP are working towards bringing parties like DMDK and AMMK of T T V Dhinakaran into the coalition.

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick-off his campaign for the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu near here on January 23 by addressing a public rally along with leaders from constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

While the PMK joined the NDA last week, the AIADMK and BJP are working towards bringing parties like DMDK and AMMK of T T V Dhinakaran into the NDA before the Prime Minister’s visit. 

This is also the first time that the NDA leaders will share dais after the AIADMK and BJP revived their ties in April 2025. By making Modi share the stage with all leaders of the NDA, the AIADMK and BJP aim to send a message that they are “united” at a time when the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) seems to have hit a turbulence with the Congress speaking in different voices. 

While AIADMK is confident of bringing DMDK into the NDA fold, the BJP is still convincing Dhinakaran, who holds significant influence among the Mukulathors, to join the alliance by compromising on his earlier stand that he will not accept AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami as the Chief Ministerial candidate. 

“We are in talks with TTV to join the NDA. He is double-minded as he wants to go with actor Vijay’s TVK. We are convincing him by explaining that his presence will be a boost for the alliance. He doesn’t have a problem in doing business with the BJP, his only issue is AIADMK and EPS. We believe he will soon realise that DMK is his enemy as well,” a source told DH.

The source added that the BJP leadership is also contemplating how to accommodate OPS, another AIADMK rebel, in the NDA. “We don’t want to give the impression that we ditched OPS who has been with us for a long time,” the source said. 

BJP leader said the PM’s public meeting will be a show of strength by the party and the AIADMK in the run-up to the assembly elections.

“Till now, our alliance has been perceived as weak and non-cohesive which was not helping us in the perception battle. We now want to up the game and that is the reason we are formalizing the alliance early and going to the people,” another leader said.