AIADMK Supremo Heads to Delhi for Crucial Talks with Amit Shah

In a pivotal move ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) is set to travel to Delhi this evening to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The visit, confirmed by AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan, comes amid swirling speculation about a potential realignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though details of the agenda remain under wraps.

Palaniswami, accompanied by senior leader and former minister S.P. Velusamy, departs as Tamil Nadu’s political landscape heats up. The AIADMK-BJP alliance, forged for the 2021 state polls where the BJP clinched four seats, unraveled in September 2023 after tensions with Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai boiled over.

Annamalai’s remarks on AIADMK icons like J. Jayalalithaa and C.N. Annadurai incensed the Dravidian party, leading to a bitter split and separate runs in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections—neither yielding a single seat for AIADMK or BJP.

Sources suggest this meeting could signal a thaw. Posts on X and reports from The Indian Express hint at weeks of backchannel talks, with AIADMK facing “political survival” pressures and the BJP eager to reclaim its Tamil Nadu foothold after a 10% vote share in 2024.

A proposed high-power steering panel to sideline Annamalai’s influence—without demanding his ouster—might pave the way, balancing BJP’s national backing of its state chief with AIADMK’s demands.

Palaniswami has kept cards close, insisting since November 2024 that “no alliance with BJP” is the party line, focusing instead on ousting the ruling DMK. Yet, with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerging as a wildcard and DMK’s dominance unshaken, this Delhi trip—his first major outreach to Shah since the split—could reshape Tamil Nadu’s electoral chessboard. Whether it’s reconciliation or a strategic pivot, the stakes are sky-high.