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    ‘Coalition govt’ fails to go down well with AIADMK veterans

    Within 17 days days after AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami met Shah in Delhi, the party is in a predicament.

    ‘Coalition govt’ fails to go down well with AIADMK veterans
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    Still of AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami and Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah from the press conference (Image: Hemanathan)

    CHENNAI: By reviving its alliance with the BJP for the Assembly polls early next year, the AIADMK finds itself caught in a political quagmire as party insiders are worried over claims of the Dravidian major’s unconditional support, forming a coalition government, apart from fear of losing minority votes.

    Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah’s remark that “no demands” were placed by the AIADMK to join the NDA, which would form a “coalition” government in the State following the 2026 assembly polls, is weighing heavily on party workers.

    Within 17 days days after AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami met Shah in Delhi, the party is in a predicament.

    The coalition formula has been rejected by the people in the past, former minister A Anwar Raajhaa said. “We have seen this in 1980, when DMK and Congress shared an equal number of seats and mooted the idea of forming a coalition government. The people rejected it categorically and voted AIADMK as the single largest party,” he added.

    Expelled AIADMK leader KC Palaniswamy called Friday’s development a “black day” in the history of the AIADMK and said the party leader entered into the alliance to protect himself and those close to him. “For his self-interest, he pledged the 53-year-old people’s movement founded by our leader, MG Ramachandran. He has surrendered the party that once upheld Dravidian ideology to the BJP,” he said.

    Another critic and former AIADMK functionary V Pugazhendhi, who is engaged in a legal battle against Palaniswami, accused the party leadership of toying with a powerful political movement that had ruled the State for over three decades since 1972. He warned that the true loyalists of MGR and Jayalalithaa would never accept this and would make their disapproval known.

    Many party insiders have echoed similar sentiments. They believe the party found itself at a clear electoral disadvantage the moment the alliance was finalised, as minority communities would likely vote en masse against the BJP alliance. This, they argue, is an “undeniable fact” and was a major factor in the defeat of several senior functionaries in the 2021 elections.

    Meanwhile, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan claimed that the BJP had forced the AIADMK into the alliance. “The RSS and its political bandwagon, the BJP, have acted in a manner intended to prevent the AIADMK from forging a tie-up with TVK and other parties,” he said.


    Also Read:

    - AIADMK to lead NDA in Tamil Nadu, says Amit Shah

    - Nainar Nagendran: From old AIADMK hand to the new face of BJP in Tamil Nadu



    Shanmugha Sundaram J
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