PMK joins BJP-led NDA in Tamil Nadu in major boost for saffron camp ahead of Lok Sabha elections

The PMK joining the BJP is a boost since the former has a committed vote bank of around 6 per cent and is very influential among Vanniyars, a dominant backward caste in Tamil Nadu.

Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu on Monday received a shot in the arm with Paatali Makkal Katchi, an influential political party in northern Tamil Nadu wielding considerable influence among dominant Vanniyars, joining the rainbow alliance being stitched by it.

The decision by the PMK also came as an embarrassment to AIADMK, the principal Opposition party, as it was hoping that the former would finalise the alliance with it on Monday. On Sunday night, PMK founder S Ramadoss, one of the senior-most politicians in Tamil Nadu, sent an emissary to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to set in motion the alliance talks.

However, the PMK high-level committee which met at Thailapuram, 120 km from Chennai, decided to ally with the BJP. The decision to ally with the BJP, according to sources, was mooted by PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss, who was categorical that the party should contest the Lok Sabha polls only in an alliance with the BJP, not AIADMK.

“PMK founder S Ramadoss announced at the high-level committee meeting that the party will face the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the BJP,” PMK general secretary Vadivel Ravanan told reporters.

He added that the decision to join the BJP-led alliance was taken jointly by Ramadoss, and his son Anbumani, while party leaders said there was no “difference of opinion” on the move to ally with the BJP within the PMK.

Sources said state BJP chief K Annamalai will travel to Thailapuram on Tuesday morning to sign the formal poll agreement. After firming up the alliance, Anbumani, who was Union Health Minister in UPA-I, is likely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Salem later Tuesday.

The decision by the PMK to join the BJP alliance is a major boost to Annamalai’s efforts to cobble up a formidable coalition against the ruling DMK and AIADMK. The BJP decided to form a Third Front under its leadership after the AIADMK snapped ties with it and quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September 2023.

PMK, which has always swung like a pendulum between the two Dravidian majors till 2011, tied up with BJP for 2014 elections and won only in Dharmapuri and went solo in the 2016 assembly polls projecting Anbumani as its Chief Ministerial candidate.

The show flopped miserably with Anbumani himself losing Pennagaram seat by over 15,000 votes. Having nowhere to go, the party quickly grabbed the opportunity given by the AIADMK to join its alliance in February 2019.

PMK is highly influential among Vanniyars, a dominant community which falls under the Most Back Community (MBC) category and commands a committed vote bank of about 6 per cent.

The alliance with the PMK will help the BJP in northern Tamil Nadu as the saffron party hopes to increase its vote share this election. The party has also enlisted the support of expelled AIADMK leaders, O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran, to help woo Mukulathors, a dominant caste spread across Central and Southern TN.

The BJP has also invested much in Tamil Nadu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi making back-to-back visits and the party conducting a yatra covering all 234 assembly constituencies in the state.