AIADMK, BJP revive ties, will contest upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls together: Amit Shah

CHENNAI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu together under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The significant political development comes ahead of the TN Assembly election, to be held in 2026.

“AIADMK and BJP leaders have decided that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together as NDA”, Shah said. Shah was addressing a press conference with BJP’s K Annamalai and AIADMK’s Edappadi Palaniswami in Chennai.

#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: On NDA alliance for Tamil Nadu Vidhan Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “These elections will be contested under the leadership of PM Modi on a national level and under the leadership of AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami on the… pic.twitter.com/NHgNC4SviR

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2025

Shah added, “These elections will be contested under the leadership of PM Modi on a national level and under the leadership of AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami on the state level…” The BJP is eager to improve its prospects in Tamil Nadu following a determined effort in the last Lok Sabha elections, where it failed to win a seat in the southern state.

The Union Minister said that the BJP will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK and added that this alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK. “AIADMK has no conditions and demands. We will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK. This alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK,” Shah said.

#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: On NDA alliance for Tamil Nadu Vidhan Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “AIADMK has no conditions and demands… We will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK… This alliance is going to be beneficial to both… pic.twitter.com/9sUeKCkI62

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2025

Shah also expressed confidence in securing a victory in the upcoming assembly polls saying that NDA will again secure a landslide majority and form government in Tamil Nadu. “I am confident that in the upcoming elections, NDA will again secure a landslide majority and NDA government will be formed in Tamil Nadu once again,” he said.

In the previous two elections — the Lok Sabha and the last Assembly polls — the AIADMK has struggled to perform strongly. The AIADMK entered into an alliance with the BJP after the passing of J Jayalalithaa in 2016.

During the 2021 state elections, the AIADMK and the BJP were in alliance, which resulted in the BJP winning four seats. However, the AIADMK severed ties with the BJP in 2023. (ANI)