Tamil Nadu elections: AIADMK, BJP to fight polls together under Edappadi Palaniswami, says Amit Shah

BJP's top leader Amit Shah on Friday announced that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Bharatiya Janata Party will be fighting the Tamil Nadu assembly polls, scheduled for 2026, together under Edappadi Palaniswami.

"AIADMK and BJP leaders have decided that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together as NDA," Shah said.

Shah was addressing a press conference with BJP's K Annamalai and AIADMK's Edappadi Palaniswami in Chennai.


Shah added, "These elections will be contested under the leadership of PM Modi on a national level and under the leadership of AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami on the state level..."

BJP eyes entry in Tamil Nadu
The BJP is eager to improve its prospects in Tamil Nadu following a determined effort in the last Lok Sabha elections, where it failed to win a seat in the southern state.

The Union Minister said that the BJP will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK and added that this alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK.

"AIADMK has no conditions and demands. We will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK. This alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK," Shah said.

Shah also expressed confidence in securing a victory in the upcoming assembly polls saying that NDA will again secure a landslide majority and form government in Tamil Nadu.

"I am confident that in the upcoming elections, NDA will again secure a landslide majority and NDA government will be formed in Tamil Nadu once again," he said.

In the previous two elections--the Lok Sabha and the last assembly polls--the AIADMK has struggled to perform strongly.

The AIADMK entered into an alliance with the BJP after the passing of J Jayalalithaa in 2016.

During the 2021 state elections, the AIADMK and the BJP were in alliance, which resulted in the BJP winning four seats. However, the AIADMK severed ties with the BJP in 2023.