NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Friday said that the party’s central leadership will take an “appropriate call” on the shape and form of alliances for the 2026 assembly elections, aiming to unseat MK Stalin’s ruling DMK.
His remarks come amid speculation about a possible revival of the BJP-AIADMK alliance after AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami met Union home minister Amit Shah earlier this week.
Asked about the AIADMK returning to the NDA, Annamalai said, “I am not authorised to talk about alliance or the formation of alliance at this point of time.”
“As the president of Tamil Nadu BJP, the role that is given to me is to strengthen the party in the state. That is what all of us are trying to do. The leaders are with me, the cadres are with me,” he added.
He said that “with respect to the shape and form of the alliance in 2026 and the nature of the NDA, our leadership will take a call at an appropriate time and naturally the media will be briefed.”
Speaking after a meeting with Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Annamalai described the 2026 elections as an opportunity to dethrone the DMK, citing corruption allegations and a “deteriorating law and order situation” in the state.
“The DMK should be brought down from power and no vote should get wasted by the votes getting shifted between different parties. Tamil Nadu, as of now, has a five-cornered contest. Nowhere else in the Indian politics you see a five-cornered contest,” he said.
He reiterated that alliance decisions rest with BJP’s national leadership. “With respect to the alliance, you have to understand that for a national party like the BJP, a disciplined party, it is our national leadership that will decide. So, we have committees, we have parliamentary boards which look into a lot of angles before they make the decision.”
“We respect our national leadership and they will make sure and look into everything. They will decide how the further course will go,” he added.
On actor-turned-politician Vijay’s recent criticism of both the BJP and DMK, Annamalai dismissed it as “politics of speaking” rather than action.
“Very sadly, Mr Vijay has decided to do politics of speaking: just take a mike, criticise the Central government and the state government, and get away with it,” he said.
“People are asking what is the productive solution you are going to bring. Are you solving the issues… Today he talked about the fishermen issue. We are solving the fishermen issue. The BJP is working very hard to solve the fishermen issue,” he added.
