Chennai, April 11, 2025 – Union Home Minister Amit Shah dropped a political bombshell Friday, confirming that the BJP and AIADMK will join forces to contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections under the leadership of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). Speaking at a Chennai presser, Shah hailed the NDA alliance as a united front to topple the DMK’s reign, signaling a seismic shift after their 2023 breakup.
“AIADMK, BJP, and all alliance partners will fight together under PM Modi nationally and EPS in Tamil Nadu,” Shah said, per NDTV. The deal, sealed after EPS’s March 25 Delhi meet with Shah, ends 18 months of bad blood sparked by BJP state chief K Annamalai’s jabs at AIADMK icons (The Indian Express). Annamalai’s out—Nainar Nagendran’s in as BJP Tamil Nadu president, a nod to EPS’s terms. “No interference in AIADMK’s internals,” Shah vowed, dodging O Panneerselvam’s role.
The stakes are brutal—DMK’s 159 seats in 2021 dwarfed the NDA’s 75 when allied (ECI). BJP’s 2024 Lok Sabha goose egg in Tamil Nadu (11.24% vote share) and AIADMK’s 20.46% flop pushed this rethink (The Hindu). Shah’s Chennai touchdown Thursday night—his first since talks kicked off—nailed it, with Rs 10,000 crore dangled for flood-hit zones (Times of India). Posts on X buzz, “EPS bent Shah’s arm—Annamalai’s toast!”—others see a DMK rout brewing.
EPS, once CM, brings heft—AIADMK’s western Tamil Nadu muscle pairs with BJP’s growing clout there (India Today). But it’s dicey—TVK’s Vijay looms, and caste math (Gounders vs. Thevars) could snag. “This isn’t just votes—it’s survival,” a BJP insider told The Hindu. For India, it’s BJP’s southern stab—will EPS deliver, or fracture under pressure?
