New Delhi: All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazgam (AIADMK) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced an alliance for the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 at a joint press conference on Friday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah formally announced that Edappi’s Palaniswami would lead the NDA in the elections.
Shah said, “AIADMK and BJP leaders have decided that AIADMK, BJP and all Alliance parties will contest the upcoming assembly elections as NDA together in Tamil Nadu.”
He said, “These elections will be contested at the national level under the leadership of PM Modi and at the state level under the leadership of AIADMK leader Edappi Palaniswami.”
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On the question of conditions for the alliance by AIADMK, Shah denied the report of “no demand” by the party.
Shah also said that AIADMK has been part of the NDA since 1998 and PM Modi and former CM and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa worked together in the past. The question said “What a long time” replied to Shah, “It took time because this alliance is now permanent.”
The alliance was announced just a day after deciding not to compete for the Chief Post of Tamil Nadu Party Unit in Annamalai.
Earlier in March, Palaniswami of AIADMK General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappi met Union Home Minister Amit Shah last month.
On 28 March, Annamalai described the 2026 elections as an opportunity to separate DMK, citing allegations of corruption in the state and “deteriorating law and order situation”. He said, “DMK should be brought down from power and no vote should be ruined by the votes shifting between different parties. Tamil Nadu, so far, there are five-worked competition. You see five-corner competition elsewhere in Indian politics,” he said.
He reiterated that the coalition decisions rest with the BJP’s national leadership. “In relation to the alliance, you have to understand that for a national party like BJP, a disciplined party, this is our national leadership. Therefore, we have committees, we have parliamentary boards that see in many angles before taking decisions.
