BJP holds out hope for AIADMK’s NDA return, but Palaniswami unmoved

As the countdown to the Lok Sabha elections begins, the stage is set for a high-stakes chess game in Tamil Nadu. With the DMK’s secular alliance holding firm in the state, the Opposition’s strategy hinges on the AIADMK that exited the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last September.

The BJP top brass in Delhi has not closed the door on the AIADMK’s return, keeping all players, including ousted AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran who are eyeing a comeback via the NDA, on tenterhooks. The AIADMK under its leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, however, continues to maintain its standoffish position.

Last week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told a Tamil daily in an interview that the party’s doors were open to potential allies, signalling a willingness to take back the AIADMK in the NDA fold. The dispute between the two parties had worsened because of state BJP president K Annamalai who is currently on a statewide yatra. With Annamalai remaining the preferred choice of the BJP leadership, the AIADMK insists its position will not change. In response to Shah’s statement, AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar said, “Let the BJP keep their doors open, our doors are closed …”

At a public meeting in Krishnagiri on Sunday, Palaniswami said there was no need for anyone to be curious about the AIADMK reuniting with the BJP, declaring the chapter closed last September. “I have said many times before. The AIADMK has made it clear in last September’s district secretaries meeting that it will not have an alliance with the BJP. We are not part of the NDA. Even after that, there has been a consistent campaign in the media that we are still talking to the BJP. Let me tell them again and again, we do not