AIADMK puts BJP on the back foot in Tamil Nadu seat pact; Annamalai opts out of contest

Much to the BJP’s chagrin, it appears that the AIADMK has had the last laugh in the NDA’s seat-sharing exercise for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, confining the saffron party largely to constituencies in the southern districts, where the Dravidian major is considered weak.

There is considerable heartburn in the BJP camp, as a lion’s share—17 out of the 27 seats allotted to it—falls in the southern and delta districts. In Chennai, which has 16 Assembly segments where the BJP showed improved performance in the local body polls and the last Lok Sabha election, the party has been left with just one seat—Mylapore. By conceding two more seats—Perambur, where actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay is likely to contest, to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and Saidapet to the AMAMK led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran—the AIADMK has retained the remaining constituencies.

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With neither of his preferred constituencies in Coimbatore district allotted to the BJP, a sulking former state president K. Annamalai has reportedly decided to opt out of the race. Disappointed with the constituencies apportioned to the party, he considers it a raw deal and is learnt to have conveyed his displeasure to the national leadership. The IPS officer-turned-politician is also miffed that the party’s share was finalised only after allocating seats to two other alliance partners.

Although Annamalai enhanced the BJP’s visibility in the state, he has not won an election so far. In the 2021 Assembly election, he contested from Aravakurichi in his native Karur district but lost to the DMK. Similarly, in the 2024 Lok Sabha election—when the AIADMK and BJP were not in alliance—he was defeated in Coimbatore. This time, he reportedly sought either Singanallur or Kavundampalayam in Coimbatore district but is said to have been persuaded to contest from Tiruppur South, currently held by the DMK.

While the AIADMK has refused to part with seats currently represented by its MLAs, the BJP has been forced to give up two of the four seats it presently holds. BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan, who won Coimbatore South by a wafer-thin margin, is likely to shift to Coimbatore North. Even as Annamalai is left out in the cold, the AIADMK has yielded its stronghold Avinashi, where Union Minister L. Murugan is a probable candidate. However, it has retained Tirunelveli, currently represented by state BJP president Nainar Nagenthran, who is said to be moving to nearby Sattur.

Even the five seats allotted to the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC-M), led by former Union Minister G.K. Vasan, are considered difficult. Although the party will contest on the BJP’s Lotus symbol, it may only help expand its footprint, as three of these seats are held by DMK ministers, while the remaining two are constituencies where the AIADMK has never won.