Won’t reconsider decision to snap ties with BJP: AIADMK

Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party, AIADMK, on Thursday, said it was firm on its decision to sever ties with the BJP and asserted that the party will cobble up a new coalition under general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to face the 2024 elections. 

“We have left the BJP and NDA to honour the sentiments of our two crore cadres. We will not go back on that decision. Not just for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, we won’t ally with the BJP even for the 2026 assembly elections. Our decision is clear,” K P Munusamy, AIADMK deputy general secretary, said. 

Speaking to reporters in Krishnagiri, Munusamy said the AIADMK will go to the people in 2024 projecting itself as “protector” of the Tamil population and doesn’t feel the need for a Prime Ministerial face. “We have Navin Patnaik in Odisha who seeks votes in a national election without projecting any face. Who is the (PM) face of regional parties in Andhra Pradesh? Does the so-called I.N.D.I.A. alliance has a face?” he asked. 

To a volley of questions on reports of BJP trying for a rapprochement with the AIADMK, Munusamy reiterated that there was no need to reconsider their decision to walk out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). To another question, Munusamy said the AIADMK never asked the BJP to remove K Annamalai from the post of state unit chief. 

AIADMK had on September 25 severed its ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA, pinning the blame on Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai’s consistent attack on Dravidian legends and the party’s core ideology for its decision. 

Meanwhile, BJP leader C T Ravi, who handled Tamil Nadu affairs till July, tweeted: “LOTUS will BLOOM in a BIG way in the Land of Saint Thiruvalluvar!” 

In a related development, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam accused Palaniswami of “betraying” the BJP and expressed the hope that he will be part of the saffron party’s alliance in Tamil Nadu.