AIADMK, BJP seal alliance for 2024 Lok Sabha polls

With this, Shah has brokered peace between AIADMK and BJP, which didn’t enjoy the best of the relations in the past few months

Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party, AIADMK, and BJP have sealed their alliance for the 2024 General Elections after deciding to bury the recent differences caused mainly due to K Annamalai’s outbursts on the Dravidian outfit and political culture in the state.

The decision to continue the alliance was taken at a meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah had with AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in New Delhi on Wednesday night in the presence of BJP chief J P Nadda. Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, whose reported statement that he would quit his post if the Central leadership aligned with the AIADMK for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls created a stir in the alliance, was also present in the meeting.

The meeting was called to broker peace between AIADMK and Tamil Nadu BJP, which didn’t enjoy best of the relations in the past few months.

Highly placed sources told DH that leaders of the two parties came to an agreement to continue the alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on the basis of “mutual respect.” Both sides agreed that a strong Opposition alliance was vital to defeating the DMK and winning a majority of seats in Tamil Nadu, which sends 39 MPs to the lower house of Parliament.

“Amit Shah asked the AIADMK general secretary to spell out his stand with regard to Lok Sabha elections. Palaniswami responded saying he was for the AIADMK fighting the polls in an alliance with the BJP. He said the two parties should ensure there is no split in opposition votes,” a source in the know told DH.

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It is also believed that Shah sought the opinion of Annamalai to which the former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer said he would abide by the decision of the Central leadership, which is a climbdown for him.

The meeting has several significant outcomes with the foremost among them being BJP making it clear that Annamalai is an integral part of the decision-making process vis-à-vis TN. By inviting Annamalai for the meeting and making him sit opposite Palaniswami, Shah has also made it clear that the AIADMK will have to deal with the state BJP leadership.

Another message was to Annamalai that he should stop criticising the AIADMK in public and instead work together with the Dravidian party, even as he continues to build the BJP.

For the record, Palaniswami said there was no “trouble” with Annamalai and asserted that the alliance continues. This is in sharp contrast to his last week’s media interaction where he mocked Annamalai by telling reporters not to ask questions about comments made by inexperienced leaders.

The peace follows after Annamalai came under intense criticism of AIADMK leaders in the past one month for his statement during an internal meeting that he was not for continuation of the alliance stitched in 2019 and that he would quit his post if the leadership in Delhi decided otherwise. His comments that he will expose the corruption of all parties that governed Tamil Nadu also irked the AIADMK which ruled the state for 30 years.

The discussion was held in a very cordial manner with a candid exchange of views on the political situation in Tamil Nadu, while deciding to “forget” small “misunderstandings” and “differences” that cropped up in the past, the sources said. It is understood that stress was laid on “mutual respectability” in the alliance as every party brings something to the table.

“Shah said while AIADMK, as a major party in Tamil Nadu, brings its own strengths in terms of vote share and support base, the BJP brings 10-year rule of Narendra Modi to the table,” another source said. The first source quoted above said the meeting decided that talks on seat sharing for the alliance will be held at a later stage.

The strain in the alliance began after BJP objected to AIADMK admitting members of the IT wing after quitting the former. It began with AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami welcoming C T R Nirmal Kumar, hours after he quit the BJP blaming Annamalai, into the party. The state BJP took objection to the development, which led to a verbal duel between the alliance partners.

The AIADMK and BJP came together for an alliance in 2019, three years after the death of J Jayalalithaa who had kept the saffron party at an arm’s length distance for at least a decade, but never won an election so far.

AIADMK leaders have been quite vocal about BJP being a “burden” for them especially because it has alienated the minorities from the party.