The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) are back in an alliance and are set to contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections together. Union Home Minister Amit Shah made the announcement in Chennai on Friday, April 11, during a press conference. He said that the alliance would benefit both parties and that they would focus their campaign on issues such as corruption, law and order, women’s safety, Dalit rights, and matters related to education.
Leaving no room for ambiguity, Amit Shah also said that Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) will head the alliance and there will be a common minimum programme announced. He also said that the BJP and AIADMK would decide jointly which other parties would be a part of their alliance. Both parties have aligned with several smaller parties in the past, including the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Tamil Maanila Congress.
“There will be no interference in AIADMK’s internal affairs,” Amit Shah said.
The AIADMK left the BJP alliance in September 2023, after deciding that the alliance was detrimental to the party and the party was losing support among the people. One of the sore points between the two parties was Annamalai, the Tamil Nadu BJP president. Just a few days before meeting EPS about the alliance in Delhi, Amit Shah, according to sources, made it clear to Annamalai that he could not continue as the president.
The state unit of the BJP announced the elections for the post and former MLA and BJP vice president Nainar Nagenthiran is all set to take charge as the new president.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP garnered an 11.24% vote share in the state. Its allies, like the PMK and Tamil Maanila Congress, managed 7.04%. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came second in 12 out of 39 constituencies in the state. The BJP and AIADMK are hopeful that if they contest as an alliance, they can poll in more votes and cash in on the anti-incumbency against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government.