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

With TN BJP chief Annamalai still the preferred choice of the party's top brass, regional party rules out rejoining NDA; insiders say focus is on building alliance with PMK and DMDK.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah has hinted at accpeting AIADMK back in the fold, party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami continues to be standoffish.

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 …”

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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 have an alliance with the BJP. Nobody needs to ask us about a BJP alliance hereafter,” he said.

Despite the public remarks by the AIADMK chief, top leaders in the BJP said the chapter was not completely closed yet. As J P Nadda arrived in Chennai on Sunday to attend a party event, party sources said OPS was among the leaders pushing for an audience with the BJP president. But BJP insiders said it was last on Nadda’s priority list. “The meeting has not been confirmed yet. He may or may not meet OPS,” said a senior BJP leader.

Another leader said Nadda was unlikely to meet OPS as the national leadership does not want to spoil any chance of bringing Palaniswami back into the NDA fold. “Even if a scenario emerges and Palaniswami agrees to join the NDA front, he will not do it if OPS and TTV are with us. So, we wouldn’t do anything that appears like we have already given shelter to OPS and TTV,” said the party functionary.

A senior RSS leader from Coimbatore told The Indian Express that although it seems unlikely, the BJP and RSS would keep trying to bring back the AIADMK. “Annamalai is the only BJP leader who stands against the AIADMK alliance. He is the sole problem, not others. After his ongoing statewide yatra, what if he is sent to Karnataka for election duty, and the senior leader Vanathi Srinivasan is made in charge of the state party here? If Annamalai, OPS, and TTV are out of the scene, it may open a chance for an alliance. We feel that it cannot be ruled out completely. Because EPS, even if stubborn, has reasons to consider the option of an NDA alliance,” said the Sangh leader.

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When asked about it, a former AIADMK minister insisted Palaniswami had made up his mind about not joining the NDA. “He doesn’t want to join as he fears losing his credibility if he returns to the NDA. He thinks his long-term future will be doomed. He also fears the same fate as parties in Maharashtra and Bihar if he goes unconditionally to the NDA. He wants to prove that the AIADMK is the prime Opposition party in the state. He is fully focused on building an alliance with the PMK and DMDK for the Lok Sabha polls now,” said the leader.

Longstanding NDA member PMK, a party backed by the powerful OBC-Vanniyar community, is also said to be considering quitting the alliance and joining hands with the AIADMK, with sources in the party saying they will continue with the BJP only if they are promised a Union Cabinet portfolio after the elections. If the PMK, led by S Ramadoss, allies with the AIADMK, it may receive the same offer as in 2019 — seven Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat. “Now that the five seats given to the BJP are vacant, we may be getting a few more seats from the AIADMK,” said a PMK leader.

Other than the PMK and DMDK, a probable AIADMK alliance, however, looks like one with bleak prospects as it may attract only smaller outfits such as the SDPI and Puratchi Bharatham.

The situation for both OPS and Dhinakaran looks even more desperate. Shut out of the political mainstream, OPS on Saturday claimed that “a mega alliance will be formed in Tamil Nadu to choose Narendra Modi as PM again”. But neither the former Deputy CM nor Dhinakarn bring much to the table for the BJP as they don’t have the political heft to win a single Lok Sabha seat on their own.