It’s final: With EPS as face, common agenda in works, AIADMK, BJP form alliance

Shah dismissed suggestions that the AIADMK had made any demands or set conditions for the alliance. Asked specifically about expelled AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran, with whom the BJP had an understanding in last year’s Lok Sabha polls, Shah said: “The BJP will not interfere in the AIADMK’s internal matters or ask them to reinduct ousted leaders. There will not be any interference.”

Incidentally, such interference was seen as one reason AIADMK voters turned away from the party in the 2021 Assembly elections, which it fought in its previous alliance with the BJP. The splits within the AIADMK were also seen by many as engineered by the BJP to weaken its southern partner. Shah making it clear that EPS would lead the alliance would help settle such fears.

Shah’s declaration that there would be a common minimum programme was also an assurance that the BJP would accommodate its ally, given their different stands on several issues sensitive for Tamil Nadu. During the press conference, Shah dismissed concerns raised by the DMK-led alliance over some of them, such as the NEET medical entrance exam and impending delimitation. “There is nothing to be worried about. The DMK will engage in issues to mislead people, but we will continue to take up people’s issues,” the Union Home Minister said.

Addressing questions on the perceived delay in formalising the alliance with the AIADMK, Shah said firmly: “There was no delay… It was only to build a comprehensive and strong alliance.”

On one of the most anticipated questions during the press meeting, about how much of a factor Annamalai was in the delay, and if his exit as state chief had anything to do with the alliance, Shah responded with a grin: “Nothing like that. Annamalai is the state president even today, that’s why he is sitting beside me. There is no truth to your question.”

Annamalai was seen as one of the factors behind the BJP-AIADMK’s acrimonious 2023 split, with his aggressive attacks not going down well with the AIADMK leadership.

As reported by The Indian Express, the fact that Annamalai and EPS share the same Gounder caste, however, was the biggest factor in the BJP considering a change of leadership in the state.

Saturday’s joint appearance of EPS, Annamalai and Shah was another iteration by the BJP that it wasn’t under any pressure on the issue of its state chief. In his tweet before the media interaction, Shah posted: “Annamalai Ji’s contribution has been unprecedented… The BJP will leverage Annamalai Ji’s organizational skills in the party’s national framework.”

The two parties previously fought the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2021 Assembly polls, together, with mixed results. Their decision to come together again, less than two years after their split, comes in the wake of the DMK’s dominance in the state in successive elections since its 2021 win – including a sweep of all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu in 2024 by the alliance led by it.

Shah’s statement on Friday regarding Annamalai also makes it clear that the BJP is set to have a new Tamil Nadu chief, with top BJP and RSS sources saying that senior leader and MLA Nainar Nagendran – as reported by The Indian Express – will be named to the post Saturday evening, following a meeting of the party’s state executive committee. Nainar filed his nomination for the post on Friday afternoon, with no other contenders so far.

Nagendran, a prominent Thevar leader from Tirunelveli, is the clear favourite of the central leadership. While there has been speculation regarding other names such as Vanathi Srinivasan and former state president Tamilisai Soundararajan, sources said there are no real contenders to Nagendran.

“Everyone knows Nainar is Delhi’s choice. Any attempt to lobby now will be seen as defying the leadership’s wishes,” a senior BJP functionary said. “Even those with ambition have stayed away.”

While retaining Annamalai would have made the alliance Gounder-heavy, with EPS and him also belonging to the same western Kongu region, Narendran provides balance as a Thevar leader from the southern belt.

Nagendran joined the BJP in 2017, after quitting the AIADMK following J Jayalalithaa’s demise. Soon after, he caught the attention of the BJP’s top brass. In the 2021 Assembly elections, which the BJP fought in alliance with the AIADMK, Shah campaigned for Nagendran from the Tirunelveli seat. His victory further sealed his place in the state unit, and as the senior-most among the four MLAs elected on the BJP ticket, he was a natural choice for legislature party head.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP left no stone unturned to make an impact in Tamil Nadu, without the AIADMK by its side, the party again turned to Nagendran, giving him a ticket. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended two of his public meetings. The BJP marked a steep rise in its vote share in the polls, though it could not win any seat.

Nagendran has been vocal about the BJP’s social engineering project of uniting Hindu Dalits and most backward and backward classes, which is crucial to its plans in Tamil Nadu. He himself enjoys the support of minority communities in his region.

Nagendran is unlikely to meet any resistance within the ranks as well given his relatively low-profile and non-confrontational image. This is a contrast to Annamalai, though party leaders insist that it is the aggression of the current state chief that has helped the BJP punch above its weight in the state.