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The carefully managed alliance between the AIADMK and BJP seems to be under strain again, with the AIADMK complaining of mounting “interference” into party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami’s (EPS’s) leadership. Demands are rising from within AIADMK ranks to exit the NDA, rather than “pay the price for Delhi’s experiments”.
Sources told The Indian Express that former AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (or OPS) is looking to launch his own party but “has been told by Delhi (read the BJP) to wait until December” before doing so. “They asked for time… They said they will negotiate and try for his (OPS’s) re-entry into the AIADMK,” a source said.
Another former AIADMK leader, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief T T V Dhinakaran, said on Sunday that he would consider returning to the NDA if EPS is not the CM face for the 2026 Tamil Nadu polls.
The AIADMK is seeing the developments as an attempt by the BJP top leadership to take more control of the fledgling NDA in Tamil Nadu. In a pushback, the same day as Dhinakaran’s statement, EPS removed party leader K A Sengottaiyan from all organisational responsibilities after the latter demanded the return of expelled leaders into the party fold.
Sengottaiyan is not a mass leader, and hence his open defiance of the AIADMK’s official stand, and doubling down on his position, was read as proof that he had the backing of the BJP leadership. On Tuesday, Sengottaiyan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi, after declaring that he was going on a trip to Haridwar.
On Wednesday, OPS said he “welcomed unification efforts” in the AIADMK.
“Everyone has the thought of unifying the AIADMK. Only if it happens, the ideals of party founder MGR and Amma (Jayalalithaa) could be realised,” he told reporters.
But AIADMK leaders are not backing these unification efforts and are instead demanding that EPS go one step further and sack Sengottaiyan from the party.
An AIADMK leader told The Indian Express: “This is a golden opportunity… If the BJP is directly intervening in our internal affairs, EPS must sack Sengottaiyan outright and even consider exiting the NDA. Because of this alliance, no communists, no minorities, no regional allies will touch us. Why should we pay the price for Delhi’s experiments?”
Another leader said: “By sacking Sengottaiyan and calling out Delhi’s interference, EPS could reposition the AIADMK as a force independent of the BJP. A section of us have already discussed the scope of an exit (from the NDA).”
Within the Tamil Nadu BJP unit too, there seems to be confusion about the central leadership’s strategy. A section admits they are “clueless” on how to perceive the Sengottaiyan episode as they have been given “clear instructions to respect the AIADMK and not meddle in its leadership choices”.
A leader said a core committee meeting held in Delhi last week had a similar message for state leaders. But an RSS leader admitted that the BJP had a “plan”, but “it has backfired”. “At least now EPS is too strong inside the AIADMK for this kind of plan,” he said.
Despite all its attempts, the party continues to struggle in the state. Having already lost OPS’s fledgling AIADMK faction, Dhinakaran’s AMMK, and other smaller allies like Krishnaswamy’s Puthiya Tamizhagam, the NDA without the AIADMK would be threadbare.
The BJP leadership’s calculation remains that only a united AIADMK can counter the DMK in next year’s polls. But all its attempts to force the factions together have failed so far, and so have challenges to EPS, whether led by OPS, Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar, or Sengottaiyan now.
Once a loyalist of former AIADMK supremo and ex-chief minister Jayalalithaa, Sengottaiyan has since lost touch with much of the younger cadre, with his influence now limited to Erode district.
“Sengottaiyan perhaps thought that he could be floated as a possible chief ministerial candidate in a united party with the BJP’s support,” a former AIADMK minister said on his sudden rebellion. “But everyone else knows the truth: rebelling against EPS at this stage is political suicide. There is no constituency for Sengottaiyan. He is going to face the same fate as OPS (who was expelled from the AIADMK),” he added.
Since seizing control of the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death and the imprisonment of her close aide V K Sasikala, Palaniswami has consolidated power within the party. “He is our leader and CM candidate. Whoever accepts that can be in the alliance,” a senior AIADMK leader said.
A leader, who is EPS’s detractor himself, admitted that “there is absolutely no threat to EPS within the party”.
On the controversy regarding the BJP, a senior AIADMK leader close to EPS said: “We were promised respect when the alliance was stitched. That promise is being violated.”
“It is clear now that the BJP cannot bring unity in the AIADMK,” a former minister said. “But they will try. If EPS stands firm, it will only make him stronger. If he bends, his leadership will be questioned for the first time.”
