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EPS launches campaign for 2026 polls with BJP, takes jibe at Stalin
Palaniswami took a dig at chief minister MK Stalin saying “some people will get fever after watching this massive roadshow”
Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) launched his statewide tour on Monday for the 2026 assembly elections flanked by BJP leaders standing atop the campaign vehicle with him.
BJP state president Nainar Nagendran and Union minister of state L Murugan, stood on either side of EPS as he justified the two parties coming together earlier in April after a bitter separation for 19 months. Hailing EPS as the future chief minister, Nagenthran said the BJP-AIADMK combination was a natural alliance.
Addressing a huge crowd at the roadshow taken from the Gandhi Statue to the bus station, Palaniswami took a dig at chief minister MK Stalin saying “some people will get fever after watching this massive roadshow.”
EPS kicked off the statewide tour of the campaign titled “Makkalai Kappom, Tamizhagathai Meetpom” (we will save people and retrieve Tamil Nadu) from AIADMK’s citadel – the western region of Tamil Nadu – from Coimbatore district. Murugan also hails from the western region and had preceded Annamalai as state BJP chief.
EPS pointed to a double standard in Stalin over BJP and questioned him if he remembered that his late father and five time chief minister M Karunandihi had allied with the BJP to contest the 1999 Lok Sabha polls and the 2001 assembly polls. Stalin has been criticising the AIADMK for aligning with the BJP saying that EPS has mortgaged the rights of the state .
“If the BJP allies with you (DMK), it is a good party. If we (AIADMK) form an alliance with the BJP, will it become a communal party?” EPS questioned.
“You can’t raise a finger at my four-and-a-half-year government, and that’s the reason you try to bring in this communal angle. You have nothing to say against us except claiming the BJP is a communal party,” he said while addressing the crowd from a special coach designed for his campaign.”
“There is no doubt that the AIADMK-BJP alliance will achieve a Himalayan victory in the next elections. We will form the next government by dislodging this anti-people DMK government,” he added.
In the first phase of the campaign, EPS will cover 38 assembly constituencies in the western, northern, and central parts of the state. In the coming months, he is expected to cover all 234 assembly constituencies.
EPS’ campaign criticising the DMK regime over corruption, a deteriorating law and order situation and not fulfilling election promises comes after Stalin launched a door-to-door campaign to reach about 20 million households in the state to talk about the government’s welfare programs.
The AIADMK-BJP alliance showing up together for the rally is significant for two reasons. One, it comes amid tensions since Union home minister Amit Shah has said that they will form a coalition government led by the AIADMK following the 2026 elections which the latter has not accepted. Secondly, the AIADMK broke off the alliance with the BJP in 2023 blaming its then state chief K Annamalai for insulting Dravidian leaders and he has not campaigned alongside EPS.
After J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016 in office, succeeded by EPS, the AIADMK has not won any election. After coming together ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK and BJP fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections separately. AIADMK registered a 20.4% vote share in one of its worst performances while BJP contesting in more number of seats registered one of its best performances in Tamil Nadu registering a 11.4% vote share.
The two parties as well as expelled AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and TTV Dhinakaran have not decided to fight the 2026 assembly polls under the banner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be led by the AIADMK to ensure that the anti-DMK votes do not split and they defeat the ruling government.
The DMK took a jibe at EPS by releasing a 39-second satirical video titled “Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing” also coinciding with World Chocolate Day. The video showed a look alike of EPS eating a five star chocolate bar as he scrolls through television channels critical of the BJP on issues such as the three-language policy, NEET, the delimitation exercise but keeping quiet.
At the end of the video, a voiceover says, “Eat 5 Star, do nothing,” criticising the AIADMK of being silent on these issues that affect Tamil Nadu.
