‘No issue’ in alliance with BJP, says AIADMK

The recent assertion of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami that his party would secure a majority on its own in the 2026 Assembly poll and form a government is viewed in certain quarters as a message to the party’s ally, the BJP. The Dravidian major, however, says that there is “no issue” in its alliance with the national party. 

Mr. Palaniswami’s clarification on the nature of government, made at a public event in Ulundurpettai of the Kallakurichi district on Sunday (June 29, 2025), came a few days after Union Minister for Home Affairs and BJP’s senior leader Amit Shah’s interview to a couple of Tamil dailies last week, wherein he made it clear that there would be a coalition government in Tamil Nadu after the Assembly election. 

Addressing a public meeting at Melavalavu near Madurai on Monday (June 30), founder of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) Thol. Thirumavalavan stated that he viewed Mr. Palaniswami’s assertion as a point of contradiction between the position of the AIADMK and that of Mr. Shah.  

As far as the idea of a coalition government in the State is concerned, there is little difference between the two Dravidian majors. In 2006, even when the DMK did not obtain a majority of its own, it ran a single-party government for the next five years with outside support of parties, including the Congress. As for the AIADMK, former Minister Vaigaichelvan told the media recently that the concept would “never and ever” find acceptance among the people of the State. 

What the Dravidian majors have in mind is the failure of the DMK-Congress combine in capturing power in the 1980 Assembly election when the constituents of the coalition contested an equal number of seats and after a round of wrangling between the two parties, the Congress had agreed to have the then DMK chief M. Karunanidhi projected as the alliance’s candidate for the post of Chief Minister. But at the hustings, the coalition did not click, whereas the AIADMK returned to power in a spectacular fashion. 

When asked whether Mr. Palaniswami’s speech was a message to the BJP, former Revenue Minister and the AIADMK’s deputy floor leader in the Assembly R.B. Udhayakumar told The Hindu on Tuesday (July 1) that the announcement regarding the alliance was made in April only after a “detailed discussion” between Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Shah. “So, there is no issue in the coalition. However, the issue is only over the understanding the language used,” Mr. Udhayakumar explained.