BJP and AIADMK reunite ahead of 2026 Tamil Nadu Elections to revive NDA fortunes
Ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the BJP has decided to reunite the NDA in the state, learning from the losses caused by the breakup with AIADMK before the last Lok Sabha elections. During his visit to Chennai on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced a renewed alliance with AIADMK. Speaking at a joint press conference with AIADMK General Secretary K. Palaniswami, Shah recalled the long-standing relationship between the two parties since 1998 and highlighted how Narendra Modi and Jayalalithaa had worked together in national politics. He asserted that once again, the BJP, AIADMK, and their allies will contest the elections together and form the NDA government in Tamil Nadu in 2026.
To strengthen the alliance, the BJP has made key leadership changes in the state. Despite his aggressive leadership, state BJP president K. Annamalai has been replaced by Nainar Nagendran. Annamalai had a strained relationship with AIADMK and also belonged to the same Gounder community as Palaniswami, which made caste balancing difficult. By appointing Nagendran, who belongs to the influential Thevar community and was formerly with the AIADMK before joining BJP after Jayalalithaa’s demise, the party aims to enhance its social engineering strategy in the state.
Amit Shah also mentioned in an X post that Annamalai will now be utilized in BJP’s national framework. Sources suggest that Annamalai may be given an organizational or governmental role, possibly as the national president of the BJP youth wing (BJYM).
The alliance has been revived mainly because the BJP and AIADMK paid a heavy price in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to their split. AIADMK secured 23% of the vote and BJP 18%, but both failed to win even a single seat. In contrast, the DMK-led INDIA alliance won all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu with 46.97% vote share—just about 5% more than the combined BJP-AIADMK total of 41.33%. Analysts believe that had the BJP and AIADMK contested together, they could have won up to 12 seats.
The BJP now recognizes that fighting alone in Tamil Nadu could delay its dream of coming to power in the state. In response to DMK’s narrative around anti-Hindi sentiment, Hindutva, and North vs South politics, the BJP sees an alliance with AIADMK and participation in state power as strategically essential.
