The AIADMK-BJP alliance is now a fait accompli. The general public perception that the top leadership of the AIADMK is amenable to being controlled and dictated to by the top brass of the BJP could dent the Dravidian major’s image and work to its disadvantage. The ideological incompatibility between the Hindutva-oriented BJP and the party bearing the name of the legendary Anna debunks the claim of “natural alliance” and it would render it rather difficult to work together as a cohesive alliance. The AIADMK-BJP alliance is left to do without the cohesive power of shared ideology. The AIADMK can dilute its Dravidian ideology or let it be subsumed by the Hindutva ideology only at the risk of considerable dwindling of its support base.

The electoral calculations made on the basis of purported vote shares could go awry in the face of the deep resentment the people of Tamil Nadu feel at the way they have been treated by the NDA government at the Centre. The BJP has a lot to answer for Hindi imposition, population-based delimitation exercise, NEET and the partisan role of the Governor. In the present situation the AIADMK may find it hard to justify its renewed tie-up with a party widely perceived to be unsympathetic towards Tamil Nadu and keen on superimposing its own world-view onto Tamil Nadu’s rich cultural legacy. The people of Tamil Nadu are benefitting from various welfare schemes and identify themselves with the M.K. Stalin-led DMK government. They would not buy Home Minister Amit Shah’s wild and unsubstantiated allegation that the state government is plagued by “rampant corruption”.

Amit Shah’s assertion that the “NDA will form a coalition government” in the state is a giveaway of BJP’s intention to repeat the experiments tried in Bihar and Maharashtra. The BJP-AIADMK alliance is deluding itself if it thinks that the politically conscious people of Tamil Nadu will vote against themselves.

G. David Milton,Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

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Tamilnadu state is being run by the regional parties for the last six decades and now after some gap political alliance between BJP and AIIDMK had again revived and next Assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of Panniswamy and regarding the allocation of seats will be decided later on and Amit.Shah made formal announcement in Chennai and also 'no interference in AIADMK affairs and a common minimum programme will be framed before going to Assembly elections.

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,” these issues are very sensitive and important for the state and every party have to fulfill the desires of people.

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.

Nineteen months after a messy separation, the AIADMK was on Friday back in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2026 Tamil Nadu

Assembly polls but not before K Annamalai bowed out as the state BJP chief and was succeeded by Nainar Nagendran. Annamalai, who was appointed by the BJP as state chief in 2021 just 11 months after he joined the party, was succeeded by Nagendran, who hails from the politically influential Thevar community. Besides alliance equations, caste calculations were also behind the move as both EPS and Annamalai belong to the Gounder community.

There were compromises from both sides – while the BJP let go of Annamalai who was touted as the party’s future, the AIADMK had to seal the alliance a year before the assembly elections and agree for a coalition government in the event of a victory.

Acknowledging that the AIADMK and BJP were not on the same page on issues like language policy and NEET, Shah said the two parties will sit together to thrash out their differences or arrive at a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for the alliance.

The Home Minister also clarified that the BJP will not “interfere” in the internal affairs of the AIADMK, effectively clarifying that there will be no pressure on EPS to take back rebels T T V Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam into the party.

Due to this combination the next Assembly elections will be interesting and the final output will be known only after the results.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

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There was no alternative for the BJP in TN other than an alliance with AIADMK, just as it did in AP in 2024 assembly polls with TDP.

The BJP's political hara-kiri I feel knows no bounds as it stoops to any low. Yesterday's foe is today's ally for BJP which claims to be a highly principled and quite different from it's arch rival, the Indian National Congress Party. During the past 11 years while in power at the Centre, the BJP changed allies at State level just like changing clothes. So I am not surprised to learn that BJP is once again chums with AIADMK in TN with the latter taking the major share leaving the former to play the second fiddle, again just like in AP.

However, the ruling DMK along with INC is already on a strong wicket polarising "Tamils" as a whole by taking up kudgels against the centre on account of delimitation of assembly constituencies and the alleged bid to impose

Hindi as 3rd language under the NEP. Additionally the ruling DMK and INC are using a Trump card: Caste Census to exploit the Hindu "weakness" of caste-divide and politics. Corruption is not an election issue at all in TN, again just like in AP.

The BJP was trounced in Karnataka on account of corruption n nepotism and for the winning party INC in Karnataka corruption n nepotism is a natural side effect of power politics! So it makes hardly any difference to the people of TN whoever wins in 2026 polls.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada