- By Nidhi Giri
- Tue, 07 Apr 2026 02:17 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Tamil Nadu Polls: After prolonged hesitation, intense negotiations, and compromise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have joined hands for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election. However, lingering doubts and mutual suspicions continue to cast a shadow over the partnership. Despite all this, the alliance is poised to mount challenge to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).
BJP Contesting On Difficult Seats
27 seats the BJP has been allocated to contest out of the total 234 assembly seats are considered relatively difficult. In approximately 19 of these seats, the BJP faces either current ministers in the DMK government or prominent leaders from caste-based organisations. Furthermore, both DMK and AIADMK workers are apprehensive that the BJP's foundation being laid could pose a future challenge to the state's Dravidian political parties.
This means that the BJP, which is trying to establish a strong foothold for the future, will have to fight on two fronts. Typically, when there is an alliance, election campaign material is designed to convey the message of excellent coordination between the parties to voters. However, in Tamil Nadu, this is not visible either in the campaign programs of SPA candidates or in the NDA.
BJP-AIADMK Alliance
Former district president P Pratibha, district vice president R Chandru, and several divisional presidents had gathered at the BJP office in Tiruchirapalli (Trichy). They claimed that DMK chief MK Stalin may have tried to disrupt the AIADMK-BJP alliance and unite the minorities by intimidating the BJP or the central government.
They showed some photos of joint campaign rallies and confidently declared that the NDA was united. However, there was no AIADMK symbol at the office. No flags, no campaign material, no photos of any leader. However, there were photos of PM Modi, state president Nainar Nagendran, and former state president K Annamalai on the wall, while the workers' vehicles only had a poster with PM Modi's photo and two roaring lions in the background.
Similarly, the AIADMK office in Tiruchirapalli East displayed only party material, symbols, and photographs. A BJP worker accompanying the AIADMK candidate raised several questions. He claimed that of the 27 seats the BJP won, 19 were considered extremely difficult. Current DMK ministers are contesting most of them.
BJP Workers Disappointed
Frustrated BJP workers have complained that while MK Stalin continues to make statements against the BJP, the AIADMK has not made efforts to portray BJP's strength in Tamil Nadu as being beneficial to the state.
The BJP workers have expressed apprehensions that perhaps the leaders of AIADMK do not want the BJP to become strong, because among the DMK and AIADMK, which are facing the crisis of better leadership, if the BJP gradually strengthens the organisation with the help of electoral victory with strong leadership, then it can emerge as a challenge to the model of Dravidian politics, with the help of which many small caste-based regional parties including DMK and AIADMK have been enjoying the pleasures of power for decades.
(With Inputs from Jitendra Sharma)