Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday confirmed that the BJP and AIADMK will contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections together as part of the NDA alliance.
He made the announcement at a joint gathering of AIADMK and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Also present on stage were AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai.
“This election will be led nationally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in Tamil Nadu by EPS and AIADMK,” Shah said, signalling strong support for Palaniswami.
He reminded the audience that the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) has been part of the NDA since 1998. He also highlighted the close ties between PM Modi and the late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa.
Shah declared confidence in the alliance’s strength. “Our partnership is stronger than ever. I am confident NDA will achieve a major victory and form the next government in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
He referred to the 2014 general election results, where the NDA won 37 Lok Sabha seats. Of those, the AIADMK-BJP alliance had secured 30 seats, he said.
The announcement comes on the same day that Nainar Nagendran was named the new BJP state president. He replaces K Annamalai, who stepped down earlier this week. Nagendran’s name was proposed by Annamalai himself, and his appointment is seen as a key step in the party’s electoral strategy.
Nagendran, a former AIADMK minister, joined the BJP in 2017 and has since played a key role in the party’s Tamil Nadu unit. His elevation to state president signals a possible strengthening of ties between the BJP and AIADMK.
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