Chennai, April 11, 2025 – The BJP and AIADMK have patched up their rocky past, officially joining hands Friday to contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as part of the NDA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced after sealing the deal with AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) in Chennai. Shah, landing at 8 AM, declared the alliance a “game-changer” to oust the DMK, ending 18 months of frost since their 2023 split.
The reunion, per Live Mint, follows EPS’s March 25 Delhi meet with Shah—sparked by the AIADMK’s 2024 Lok Sabha wipeout (20.46% vote share) and BJP’s 11.24% solo push (ECI). “NDA will sweep Tamil Nadu—DMK’s corruption ends here,” Shah told a rally, per The Indian Express. EPS, once firm on “no BJP,” softened after Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) snubbed a tie-up—TVK’s 50% seat demand sank that ship (Times of India). Now, EPS leads the NDA charge, with BJP eyeing 40-50 of 234 seats.
Tamil Nadu’s chessboard’s shifting—DMK’s 159-seat grip in 2021 looms large, but NDA’s 2021 haul (75 seats together) hints at muscle (The Hindu). Shah’s dangled sops—Rs 10,000 crore for flood-hit Chennai—while EPS pushes a two-language policy against BJP’s three-language nudge. Posts on X buzz, “EPS sold out—or saved AIADMK?”—others see BJP’s southern foothold firming up. “Annamalai’s out, Nainar’s in?” one quipped, as leadership chatter swirls.
The catch? Caste math—EPS (Gounder) and BJP’s Nainar Nagendran (Thevar) could widen the net, but Annamalai’s sidelining risks western TN rifts (India Today). For India, it’s a signal—BJP’s not stopping at Delhi. Will this duo topple DMK’s Dravidian wall, or just split the anti-incumbency vote again?
