BJP joins hands with AIADMK, to contest Tamil Nadu polls in 2026 together

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) figure and Union home minister Amit Shah declared that the saffron party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will collaborate in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections next year.

Shah declared the pre-election coalition between the two parties during a press conference in Chennai on Friday. Significantly, the BJP has chosen to take on the role of a junior partner in the coalition, with Shah announcing that the 2026 Assembly elections will be contested under the direction of AIADMK leader and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswami.

In recent years, there have been several instances where the AIADMK has adopted a distinct ideological position compared to the BJP on specific matters. Regarding this, Shah stated that both sides will convene to discuss and address these differences. The Gandhinagar MP additionally mentioned that they could potentially create a common minimum programme (CMP) before the elections to tackle the ideological disparities.

“AIADMK and BJP have decided to fight next year’s polls… since 1998, the AIADMK has been part of the BJP alliance at different points of time. Prime Minister Modi and late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had worked for Centre-state ties,” Shah added.

The BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit also witnessed a change of guard today. Senior leader Nainar Nagendran was appointed as the state party president. The outgoing state BJP chief K Annamalai is set to be moved to national-level politics.

Attacking the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, Shah said, “People are seeking answers from the DMK on a number of scams and will vote in the elections on original issues.”