Amid the strained relationship between the AIADMK led by Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai, the former met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda in New Delhi late on Wednesday.
The meeting between the AIADMK senior leaders and the top leaders of the BJP took place at Shah’s residence late Wednesday night. Annamalai was also present in the meeting that lasted for over 40 minutes. This was also the first meeting with senior BJP leadership after Palaniswami became the general secretary of the party following clearance of several legal battles.
“Edappadi K Palaniswami told Amit Shah that the alliance should continue or else it would only make it easier for their common enemy (DMK) to win,” said a source privy to the developments.
Sources say the BJP top brass wanted Annamalai to be present in the meeting to sort out any differences between the two parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting follows a stream of strong-worded exchanges between Palaniswami and Annamalai. The first instance was AIADMK kicking off the Erode East campaign without any reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the posters and banners. Annamalai then ruffled feathers by declaring that his crusade against corruption would not be restricted to the DMK, raising hackles at the AIADMK. Since then, Palamiswami’s attitude and comments about Annamalai’s political style have been highly critical.
The decision of Shah to meet with Palaniswami — in the presence of Annamalai — underscores the integration of Annamalai in the decision-making process of the BJP, with respect to Tamil Nadu.
While EPS called it a courtesy meet, he also said the alliance is intact and denied reports of a rift between him and Annamalai.
“There is no rift between Annamalai and us. If there was any fight, would he have campaigned for us in Erode bypolls? There are people trying to create fissures between BJP and AIADMK. Some tried to ask questions with ulterior motive of creating rift between the BJP and AIADMK and to put a full stop to that I said ‘Don’t ask me questions about him(Annamalai)’…”
Meanwhile, sources say the BJP high command put an end to the differences that existed between the state BJP and the AIADMK. The BJP had also made ir clear to the AIADMK on the number of seats it would like to contest in 2024,source privy to the development told News18.
Among other things that were discussed in the meet were the audio clips purportedly of PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. Both the AIADMK and the BJP have demanded a central agency probe into it.
Amid a debate over standoffish posturing by the AIADMK towards the BJP, the meeting has caused speculation whether the regional party has softened its stance with the BJP. In the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the AIADMK-BJP alliance is an important determinant of how regional parties would align for the polls.
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