THE BJP doesn’t seem to be making much headway in its efforts to strengthen the NDA coalition ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, with T T V Dhinakaran publicly ruling out a return to it as long as AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami or EPS remains its chief ministerial candidate.
Two days ago, former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai called on Dhinakaran, the AMMK (Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam) founder, reportedly urging him to reconsider returning to the NDA. While insisting that their hour-long meeting was not political in nature, and that Annamalai called on him as a friend, Dhinakaran said Wednesday: “As long as Palaniswami is the CM candidate, there is no chance (of a return to the NDA).”
During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Annamalai had played a central role in drawing Dhinakaran — who is the nephew of the late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s confidante Sasikala — into the NDA fold.
Senior BJP leaders acknowledged that his meeting with Dhinakaran now was meant to gauge whether the AMMK might join the NDA again if leadership questions could be resolved.
But in his interaction with the media, Dhinakaran ruled this out completely: “I was against Palaniswami in 2021 (the Assembly elections) too. Only because some senior leaders requested me did I accept him then.”
Not only that, the AMMK leader added, his party would fight specifically to defeat EPS, accusing the latter of “betrayal”. Dhinakaran said he had explained his reasons to “Delhi leaders” (hinting at the BJP) as well. “There were attempts to draw me back through Delhi-based intermediaries, but I rejected them,” he said.
While Dhinakaran also ruled out joining the DMK or Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), he left other options open. “The alliance we join will be the winning one,” he said.
O Panneerselvam or OPS, the other ex-AIADMK leader whom the BJP has been trying to get back into the NDA, also remains reluctant as long as EPS remains supreme. However, OPS has indicated he could change his mind, saying he would meet senior AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan “if invited”.
Sengottaiyan has been pushing for the AIADMK to bring back former leaders, and was recently stripped of all party posts by EPS after he set a 10-day “deadline” for this. There were reports that Dhinakaran and Sengottaiyan had also met, but both have denied it.
OPS interestingly mentioned the popularity of Vijay’s new party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), while remaining non-committal on the AIADMK. “The huge crowds at his rallies are visible. But whether they translate into votes will be known only after counting,” he said.
Sengottaiyan’s announcement of a deadline for OPS had taken everyone by surprise given his low profile in the party, leading to speculation that Sengottaiyan was acting with the BJP’s blessings.
Sengottaiyan has said his stand had not changed: “If everyone comes together, the AIADMK could register a massive victory in 2026.” He also suggested that he had support among senior AIADMK functionaries.
However, the BJP appears to have got the message that EPS holds complete control over the AIADMK as of now, with Sengottaiyan’s 10-day deadline creating barely a stir in the party.
Speaking to The Indian Express recently, a senior leader suggested that the BJP bet on the wrong horse. “Those who picked him as the face of the rebellion made a mistake.”
The BJP is keen to expand the NDA umbrella as, while the ruling DMK-led coalition remains strong, its own allies are either struggling or have left. The PMK is divided between the Ramadoss father and son, the late Vijayakanth’s DMDK is resentful, while K Krishnaswamy’s Puthiya Tamizhagam has aligned with Vijay. That leaves the BJP and AIADMK as the only two major allies in their Tamil Nadu coalition.
Last week, EPS also conveyed his firm opposition to Dhinakaran and OPS’s re-entry to the top BJP leadership, including Amit Shah, in Delhi. Having fought to secure his role in the AIADMK as the successor to J Jayalalithaa after her demise, he sees both as challengers.
Sources said that EPS had suggested that one way out was the NDA inducting OPS and Dhinakaran, rather than the AIADMK.
EPS is unlikely to change his stand on the issue as the DMK had seized on Sengottaiyan’s remarks as more “evidence” of the BJP running the show in the AIADMK. Its “ties” with the BJP are believed to have been one reason for the AIADMK’s electoral debacles in recent years.