Tamil Nadu: AMMK to rejoin NDA, TTV Dhinakaran to attend PM Modi’s rally on January 23

Chennai: Overcoming differences within, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by T T V Dhinakaran will rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on January 23 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dhinakaran has conveyed the decision to his party functionaries and asked them to attend Modi’s rally in Madhuranthagam, about 70 km, on Friday. AMMK joining the NDA is a boost to the alliance, which will kick-off its campaign at the public meeting where Modi will share the stage with all constituents of the combine.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to land in Chennai on Wednesday to wrap up the negotiations with all NDA constituents before the PM’s visit on Friday.

Life will come full circle for Dhinakaran, the nephew of V K Sasikala who once controlled the AIADMK from the sidelines. Eight years after he launched the AMMK vowing to uproot Edappadi K Palaniswami’s political career, Dhinakaran will now endorse the AIADMK general secretary as the NDA’s Chief Ministerial candidate.

AMMK had quit the NDA in September 2025 accusing the BJP of “cold-shouldering” the party to appease the AIADMK led by Palaniswami and was toying with the idea of aligning with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).

Dhinakaran had even declared that he would never accept EPS as the NDA’s CM nominee and openly praised Vijay, saying the actor would create a “big impact” in the 2026 elections.

However, the BJP was not willing to lose AMMK, which holds significant clout among the dominant Mukulathor community spread across Southern and Central Tamil Nadu, to Vijay and deputed former state chief K Annamalai to convince Dhinakaran.

In fact, Dhinakaran travelled to New Delhi in the first week of January and held “detailed discussions” with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who assured him of “decent number of seats” and “due respect” in the NDA.

“It is true that AMMK was in talks with TVK, but the BJP was insistent that we should rejoin the NDA. The BJP told Dhinakaran that the NDA cannot afford a split in the Mukulathor votes which would further strengthen the DMK. Though Dhinakaran was not ready to make peace with Palaniswami, he agreed,” a source aware of the developments told DH.

The apprehension was that the AIADMK may not work for AMMK candidates and might spoil their winning chances in the constituencies allotted to them, but Shah has assured that there won’t be any internal sabotage and everyone will work together for the victory of NDA nominees.

The source added that though the number of seats to be allotted to AMMK is yet to be finalised, the party is likely to get six to 10 assembly constituencies.

“Shah promised Dhinakaran to take care of the interests of the AMMK. He also asked Dhinakaran to attend the January 23 rally which he agreed,” another source said.

Dhinakaran took about a week to decide on the BJP’s offer and conveyed his decision to re-join the NDA to AMMK functionaries over the weekend.

“Though many of us wanted to join the TVK alliance so that we could defeat Palaniswami, TTV explained to us that only the NDA was in a position to send the DMK packing home and that is why he decided to join the combine. Since we are in AMMK only because of Dhinakaran, we accepted his decision,” a source in AMMK told DH.

Dhinakaran has also instructed his party functionaries and cadres from Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Kanchipuram, and Tiruvallur districts to attend the NDA rally on January 23.

The BJP is also working with another AIADMK rebel O Panneerselvam, who is also opposed to Palaniswami, and hopes to bring him onboard before January 23.