Chennai: The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), An All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) splinter group led by T T V Dhinakaran on Wednesday returned to the fold of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as the Bharatiya Janata Party scrambled to finalise partnerships ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big rally in Tamil Nadu on January 23.
HT had previously reported on January 18 that AMMK would rejoin the NDA.
The alliance, formalised in the presence of Piyush Goyal, the Union commerce minister who is also the BJP’s person in charge of the state election scheduled for early summer, marks a significant win for the BJP which has been trying to field its strongest-ever alliance in the state to take on the incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led alliance.
On Wednesday, Dhinakaran and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) who is leading the NDA in Tamil Nadu said they have buried their differences and that the union is aimed at defeating the ruling DMK.
The return of Dhinakaran ensures that the votes of the Mukulathors, dominant in southern and central Tamil Nadu, are consolidated and not split between AMMK and AIADMK as it was in 2021.
Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam (OPS), both expelled from the AIADMK were in the NDA’s fold after the AIADMK broke away from the BJP for 19 months. But, when the AIADMK and BJP joined hands again last April after a bitter separation, first OPS and then Dhinakaran quit the NDA saying they were being sidelined. Both Dhinakaran and OPS, who now heads the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga Thondargal Urimai Meetpu Kuzhu, have flirted with actor Vijay’s fledgling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) . Until recently, EPS was dead set against the return of Dhinakaran, V K Sasikala (Dhinakaran’s aunt and the late J Jayalaithaa’s confidant) and OPS, all of whom belong to the Mukkalathor community. EPS himself hails from the Gounder community dominant in western Tamil Nadu.
{{/usCountry}}Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam (OPS), both expelled from the AIADMK were in the NDA’s fold after the AIADMK broke away from the BJP for 19 months. But, when the AIADMK and BJP joined hands again last April after a bitter separation, first OPS and then Dhinakaran quit the NDA saying they were being sidelined. Both Dhinakaran and OPS, who now heads the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga Thondargal Urimai Meetpu Kuzhu, have flirted with actor Vijay’s fledgling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) . Until recently, EPS was dead set against the return of Dhinakaran, V K Sasikala (Dhinakaran’s aunt and the late J Jayalaithaa’s confidant) and OPS, all of whom belong to the Mukkalathor community. EPS himself hails from the Gounder community dominant in western Tamil Nadu.
{{/usCountry}}EPS in a post on X “warmly welcomed” Dhinakaran into the alliance though AIADMK leaders were absent during Goyal’s meeting with him. In response Dinakaran also endorsed EPS as the NDA’s CM candidate. “We (AMMK and AIADMK) have issues between us but the state’s welfare is important,” Dhinakaran told reporters.
The NDA alliance also includes the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) which joined the grouping in January. The AIADMK and BJP have been trying to woo the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and Vijay’s TVK . Goyal is likely to hold discussions with DMDK and OPS with an aim to finalise their alliance ahead of Modi’s rally on January 23, people familiar with the matter said.
Analysts said the NDA wants to put up a rainbow coalition to take on the DMK’s Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) which has a prominent Dalit vote bank, the CPI and CPI (M), and several regional parties.
AMMK leaders said the roadmap of the alliance became clearer when Dhinakaran met Union home minister Amit Shah earlier this month in Delhi. “He was assured that AMMK will get between six to nine seats,” one AMMK leader said. Dhinakaran was expelled from the AIADMK in September 2017 after EPS and OPS took over the party from Sasikala.
“We have been trying to unite all AIADMK factions to put up a strong fight against the DMK’s coalition,” said a senior BJP leader who asked not to be named. “Now, the anti-DMK votes will not get split. This is what has been conveyed to Vijay too.”