All is not well? EPS camp’s silence after Amit Shah meet speaks volumes

CHENNAI: It’s a silence that speaks volumes. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, on his return to Chennai on Wednesday after a one-to-one meeting with the BJP's master strategist and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is a toned-down version of his earlier self that the senior leaders who accompanied him now term the meeting as a ‘routine’ one between alliance partners. It’s also learnt that the party had planned a “warm” reception and press meet on Palaniswami’s return to Chennai at the airport, but the plan was abruptly called off.

“The trip was undertaken with a 'mutual understanding’, focusing on the best interests of the party and the alliance, hence the silence,” a senior leader quipped. He, however, termed his former cabinet colleague KA Sengottaiyan's meeting with Shah as "unwarranted" and “undermining the party leadership”, but declined to comment whether Palaniswami expressed his dissatisfaction to Shah over it.

The way Palaniswami and seven others of his inner circle, who accompanied him — KP Munusamy, SP Velumani, Dindigul C Srinivasan, CVe Shanmugham, and M Thambidurai — avoided the media in both the state and national capitals following the Tuesday night meeting at Shah's durbar is telling. Palaniswami's travel schedule was also altered to minimise his stay in Chennai. He landed around 3 pm and boarded a flight to his native district, Salem, at 3.50 pm. Thambidurai, who accompanied him, bolted out of the airport and rushed to his car, avoiding journalists' questions about the Delhi trip.

Political analysts have opined that the national leadership of the saffron party is increasingly calling the shots, not just in alliance matters, but also in the internal affairs of the AIADMK. The episode revealed one thing beyond doubt: the saffron party has "successfully employed its long-standing tactic of divide and rule," said political analyst Tharasu Shyam.

"By engineering and encouraging factionalism within the AIADMK, the BJP is steadily weakening the party and positioning itself as the dominant partner in the alliance. This development could prove detrimental to the AIADMK's authority in TN’s political landscape," he said. Rather than consolidating the party or projecting unity, Palaniswami appears to have positioned himself as the BJP's most "loyal and resourceful" ally. We have to wait and see whether it benefits him, said Shyam.

Palaniswami's appeal for the Bharat Ratna to be awarded to freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, though symbolically significant, is unlikely to gain major political traction. Instead, it risks antagonising existing allies and complicating intra-coalition dynamics.

Political critic and writer Mumbai S Kumanan Raasan remarked, "Ultimately, this visit has only reinforced perceptions that the AIADMK is being reduced to a junior partner - or worse, a pawn - in the BJP's broader strategy in Tamil Nadu." He also noted that OPS, Dhinakaran, Sasikala, and now Sengottaiyan played their part as per the BJP's plan to tighten its grip over the Dravidian major.