No talks with Amit Shah on VK Sasikala's entry into NDA: Edappadi K Palaniswami

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday asserted that former interim general secretary VK Sasikala joining the Dravidian party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming assembly election did not figure in his discussion with Union home minister Amit Shah.

Palaniswami hinted that there were chances of some more parties joining the NDA. However, he clarified that there were no discussions about including Sasikala's party in the alliance.

"We met the Union home minister at his residence and discussed the political situation in Tamil Nadu," Palaniswami told media persons in Delhi. "We also discussed how we should proceed in the upcoming elections. We are talking to some parties about alliances, and they are likely to join our alliance. We have not had any discussions about Sasikala's party joining our alliance."


Sasikala, who has been claiming to be the general secretary of the AIADMK, announced her decision last week to launch a party and unveiled the party flag. She said the party's name would be announced soon.

When asked when the alliance's seat-sharing arrangement would be finalised, Palaniswani said that even the poll schedule had not been released yet but that talks were going well. "Our negotiations are going on smoothly for seat sharing," he said.

He also took a jibe at the tensions within the DMK-Congress over seat sharing. "The confusion is only on the other side. Are the Congress and the DMK going to stick together?" Palaniswami asked.