Shah says next Tamil Nadu CM will be from AIADMK
What's the story
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly elections. He said that while a candidate from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) would become chief minister, he did not mention Edappadi K Palaniswami's name. Palaniswami is the party's current general secretary. This is significant, as no Dravidian party has shared power with allies since 1967.
Political landscape
Alleged corruption in Tamil Nadu
Shah's comments come after his rally in Madurai on June 8, where he slammed the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for alleged corruption. He accused the state government of giving ₹450 crore worth of nutrition kits to a private company, depriving the poor. He also alleged a ₹4,600 crore sand mining scam enriched the ruling party at the expense of the poor.
Election confidence
'People of Tamil Nadu will dethrone DMK'
Shah expressed confidence that the people of Tamil Nadu would vote out the DMK in the next elections. He said, "I understand the pulse of the people and can say that the people of Tamil Nadu will dethrone the DMK in the next elections." At a recent event, Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran said Shah would lead a "Silent Operation" to defeat the MK Stalin-led DMK.
Alliance
AIADMK left the BJP alliance in 2023
At a high-profile press conference in Chennai on 11 April, Shah formally announced the revival of the BJP's alliance with the AIADMK. The AIADMK departed the BJP coalition in September 2023, after deciding that the alliance was detrimental to the party and the party was losing people's support. The NDA fought the 2021 Tamil Nadu elections together when Palaniswami was the CM. However, it lost to the DMK and its alliance partners, winning only 75 seats out of 234 constituencies.