AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami met Union Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday, sparking rumours of a re-alliance between their two parties ahead of next year’s Tamil Nadu election.
However, Mr Palaniswami, or EPS, as he is known, downplayed that speculation.
“Poll alliances are discussed closer to elections… nothing now,” Mr Palaniswami – who led his party away from the BJP two years ago, in an attempt to revive political fortunes that have been falling since the death of ex-Chief Minister and party icon J Jayalalithaa in 2016 – said after the meeting.
Stressing there was no alliance talk, he said the meeting was to discuss people’s “issues” and the disbursal of funds for railways projects and the MNREGA employment guarantee scheme.
EPS said he also urged Mr Shah to order an inquiry into the alleged TASMAC scam and called for stringent action against the guilty. The scam – which, like the liquor policy scam that roiled Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP in Delhi and helped the BJP win that election – refers to Rs 10,000 crore in alleged irregularities the Enforcement Directorate has claimed in the state-owned liquor sales agency.
The alleged TASMAC scam is set to become a major issue in next year’s election, with the ‘Hindi imposition’ and delimitation rows, as the BJP tries to win a state that has historically rejected it.
Delhi | AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami says, ” Various issues of Tamil Nadu were discussed with Union Minister Amit Shah. We stressed two-language policy should continue in the State. Requested to release funds and implement various schemes for Railway projects” pic.twitter.com/UyTCGknpt0
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2025
“I raised the collapsing law-and-order situation in Tamil Nadu… the safety of women… the liquor and drugs menace. And I urged the centre to not permit the Makedatu project,” he said.
The project is the construction of a reservoir across the Cauvery river in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district. This, Tamil Nadu has argued, will reduce water flowing downstream to it.
The AIADMK and BJP were allies for the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 state elections but lost both – to the DMK-Congress pair – by large margins.
Ties between the AIADMK and BJP deteriorated rapidly after 2021, with the latter’s state unit chief, K Annamalai, taking pot shots at the Tamil party’s past and present leaders, including founder and ex-Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, who has legendary status in the state.
READ | “Happiest Moment”: AIADMK Ends Alliance With BJP, Exits NDA
The AIADMK demanded Mr Annamalai apologise for his remarks, which he refused to do, and so, in September 2023, a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the parties split.
Since then there has been periodic talk of the two resuming their alliance, but it never became anything more than speculation.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
