The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK) recent decision to walk away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and thus the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is changing dynamics in Tamil Nadu politics. On 2 October, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami stated that the decision was taken by the party cadres and there will be no going back on this.
EPS added, “We have announced our stand on alliance questions. We will form a mega alliance under the leadership of the AIADMK. Headquarters’ office bearers, district secretaries, MPs, and MLAs aired the views of the 2 crore AIADMK cadres at our party meeting last week.”
So which parties will the AIADMK now seek out for this new mega alliance? At the Monday meeting, EPS indicated that they would reach out to the minority communities like the Muslims and Christians, which they had stayed away from due to the BJP alliance. According to some AIADMK leaders, the alliance dharma that the party had to adhere to meant that it had to support issues like the CAA, Article 370, and Triple Talaq, though it was not on the same page as the BJP.
In fact, Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi leader Thamimun Ansari recently lauded EPS for his decision to break away from the BJP. Thus, the AIADMK is counting big on the minority allies now.
Further, the AIADMK’s decision to go it alone in Tamil Nadu means that the parties who had been part of the NDA alliance would now possibly re-think their position. While the Puratchi Bharatham Party is joining the AIADMK, the other parties in the NDA like the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) are taking a wait-and-watch approach.
Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) Seeman told a television channel that he had spoken to EPS after AIADMK’s split with the BJP, but gave no indication of whether an alliance would be formed. EPS has also been in touch with Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi’s (VCK) Thol Thirumavalavan. Thus, it looks like the AIADMK is trying to woo both the NTK and the VCK.
Interestingly, nine days after the official split between the AIADMK and the BJP, AIADMK MLAs T.K. Amulkandasami, Varadharaj Jayaraman and A.K. Selvaraj called on Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Coimbatore on 3 October. The three MLAs told the media that the meeting was only to put forth demands for their respective constituencies and had no other political agenda.