EPS invites BJP to AIADMK’s state-wide campaign from July 7

Having asserted his primacy in the NDA in Tamil Nadu and making it clear that it would be an AIADMK government and not a coalition government post the 2026 assembly election as claimed by Union Home Minister and BJP stalwart Amit Shah, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) has extended an invite to the saffron party to join his state-wide mass contact programme commencing from July 7.

The AIADMK leader is scheduled to launch the first phase of his mass outreach, christened as ‘Makkalai Kappom, Thamizgaththai Meetpom’ (To save people and redeem TN), from Mettupalayam, an assembly segment in Coimbatore district. Burying the differences that have cropped up over the debunking of Dravidian icons at the Sangh Parivar organised ‘Conference of Murugan Devotees’ in Madurai and the frequent clamour of a coalition government with saffron participation, the AIADMK has invited the BJP to participate in the inaugural event of the campaign.

Advertisement

Accepting the invite, BJP state president Nainar Nagendran, state general secretary AP Muruganandam and others will be in attendance and share the dais with EPS at Mettupalayam. Moreover, local BJP functionaries and cadre are expected to participate throughout the campaign at assembly segments-wise, the first phase of which will conclude in Thanjavur district. EPS is slated to visit all the 234 constituencies in phases during which he would interact with farmers, traders and other sections. On each day, EPS would be touring three assembly constituencies.

The mass outreach is billed as a prelude to the 2026 assembly election to dethrone the DMK and return to power. It is to be noted that the programme is launched from the western Tamil Nadu, known as the Kongu belt where the OBC Goundars are the dominant community to which EPS belongs. For long, it has been a hunting ground of the AIADMK but in the last LS polls, the party received a drubbing in this region, though securing a creditable vote share.

In the Dravidian heartland, it appears to be a season of political campaigns as the election is around the corner. The ruling DMK has launched its ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’ (Rallying TN under one banner), to enrol two crore membership for the party by visiting each household booth-wise while actor Vijay of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) will hit the roads in mid-August. Preparations for the campaign schedule are made by the TVK top brass.