The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Monday, September 25, officially announced that it will not continue its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The announcement was made following a meeting of AIADMK MLAs, MPs and District Secretaries at the party headquarters in Chennai. In a statement, the party said that over the last year, the BJP has targeted the leaders of the AIADMK and has criticised them, thereby forcing the party to end its alliance with the BJP.
“BJP’s leadership in Tamil Nadu has been wantonly speaking derogatorily about our ideological leaders including CN Annadurai and Jayalalithaa,” stated the resolution, which went on to add that the situation has frustrated AIADMK cadre and leaders.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar said, "AIADMK unanimously passed a resolution in the meeting. AIADMK is breaking all ties with the BJP and NDA alliance from today. The state leadership of the BJP has been continuously making unnecessary remarks about our former leaders, our general secretary EPS and our cadres for the past one year.”
According to media reports, several District Secretaries of the AIADMK had suggested that the party should stand strong with its decision of breaking ties with the NDA government. The decision comes just days after former AIADMK ministers including SP Velumani, P Thangamani, C Ve Shanmugam and Natham R Viswanathan met the BJP national president JP Nadda and discussed the strained alliance with the BJP.
The trigger for the exit was Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai’s statement during a protest rally in Chennai on September 11, claiming that Dravidian icon CN Annadurai, who had founded DMK, had made a critical remark against the Hindu faith at a programme held in the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple in the 1950s which was rebutted by noted freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar.
Annamalai claimed that Muthuramalinga Thevar questioned Annadurai for speaking ill of Goddess Umaiyaval at a temple event and that the former CM “went into hiding” in Madurai because Muthuramalinga Thevar was angry. Following his comments, the AIADMK leaders noted that there was no evidence to back up Annamalai’s claims.
Annamalai had previously in 2023 insinuated that the tenure under former CM Jayalalithaa was one of the most corrupt administrations in Tamil Nadu. Following this, AIADMK adopted a resolution against Annamalai, calling him 'politically immature and inexperienced'.
Annamalai also made headlines after bashing the “political culture” of Tamil Nadu post which the AIADMK leaders entered into a war of words. However, both the parties decided to reconcile in April 2023, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami met in Delhi.
It was on September 18, Jayakumar had previously announced that the two parties will be breaking ties at a press meet. Reacting strongly to Annamalai’s repeated jibes at former Chief Ministers CN Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa, Jayakumar scoffed that the BJP state chief would not be able to go past NOTA if he contested without an alliance in the 2024 general elections.
Jayakumar had previously said, “Annamalai doesn’t desire an alliance with the AIADMK although other BJP workers want it. Should we tolerate all this criticism of our leaders? BJP can’t set foot here (Tamil Nadu) if we are not with them. As far as the alliance is concerned, it is not there. BJP is not with AIADMK. But it can all be decided only during elections, and that is the party’s stand.”