As Amit Shah arrives in TN, PMK dilemma sees return of Ramadoss as chief, son demoted

During his two-day Chennai visit beginning Thursday night, Shah would hold meetings with the state BJP leaders to take stock of the situation and the party’s functioning. His schedule includes meetings with the BJP functionaries and RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy.

Shah’s visit comes against the backdrop of a thaw in the relations between the BJP and its erstwhile ally AIADMK, the state’s principal Opposition party. State BJP chief K Annamalai, who is considered one of the main reasons behind the AIADMK and the BJP falling out in 2023, may step down from his position as alliance talks between the two parties gather pace.

Despite the buzz of an impending leadership change in the state BJP, several BJP and RSS leaders said Shah’s visit could not be linked to the issue of picking Annamalai’s successor. “Shah’s Chennai trip is not about Annamalai. It’s part of the BJP’s national template to get its state units ready a year in advance in all poll-bound states,” a senior BJP leader told The Indian Express, citing the cases of West Bengal and Bihar in this regard.

While Nainar Nagendran, the BJP MLA from Tirunelveli, has emerged as a front-runner for the position of the new state party chief, the senior BJP leader said no decision would be announced during the Union Home Minister’s tour.

What however took many by surprise was the PMK’s simmering tension bursting into open on a day of Shah’s visit.

An ally of the BJP-led NDA, the PMK’s politics centres around the Vanniyar community, categorised among the Most Backward Classes (MBCs), which accounts for a sizeable number of voters in northern Tamil Nadu and in some pockets of the state’s western parts.

“The crux of the PMK’s rift lies in a generational and strategic disagreement: whether to continue with the NDA fold or realign directly with the AIADMK,” PMK sources said.

Ramadoss has taken a stand that the PMK’s future lies with the AIADMK as he believes that “only an alliance with the AIADMK can yield tangible gains in the 2026 polls,” sources said.

Anbumani, on the other hand, favours continuing as a part of the NDA, highlighting the BJP’s national supremacy and relevance, sources said.

Ramadoss’s action demoting Anbumani came at a time when the latter was trying to meet Shah. A senior PMK leader close to Ramadoss said: “The issue is all about who would be our prime ally – AIADMK or BJP.” He said, “It is not about an issue against the NDA alliance but to assert our regional position and our loyalty towards the AIADMK over the BJP.”

The PMK rejig followed months of rumblings within the party. Last December, Anbumani had openly opposed Ramadoss’s bid to name his grandson Parasuraman Mukundan, son of his elder daughter Gandhimathi, as the PMK’s youth wing chief during the party general council meeting in Villupuram.

Now, Ramadoss has reasserted his authority, positioning himself once again as the party’s principal face and pushing Anbumani to virtually play a symbolic role. He has also named party veteran G K Mani as its honorary president.

On its part, the BJP has been treading cautiously on matters related to Tamil Nadu, where the ruling M K Stalin-led DMK has been at the forefront of a pushback against the Narendra Modi government on various issues including delimitation and the language policy.

Though the alliance talks between the BJP and the AIADMK are said to be continuing behind the scenes after AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami or EPS recently met Shah in Delhi, the BJP camp has kept it low-key.

Sources close to EPS, Anbumani and former AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran said they have all sought appointments to meet Shah, which were not confirmed till Thursday evening.

Some close aides of EPS, however, said there may not be a formal meeting between the two sides during Shah’s tour.

Against this backdrop, the PMK churn signals the challenge facing the BJP in managing regional allies with strong hierarchies and competing aspirations. It may also strengthen the AIADMK’s hand in its talks with the BJP.