AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s (EPS) visit to Delhi on Wednesday triggered political buzz amid reportedly strained seat-sharing negotiations between the two NDA allies — the AIADMK and the BJP — ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Coming on the same day that EPS announced an alliance with the Anbumani Ramadoss-led Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), the Delhi visit assumed added significance.
Terming the tie-up with the PMK a “natural alliance” aimed at unseating the ruling DMK’s “anti-people” regime, EPS said the coalition had been strengthened further. “The AIADMK and the BJP have already come together. With the PMK now joining the alliance, it has become stronger. This is a natural and victory-oriented alliance formed to defeat the DMK’s anti-people government. More parties are likely to join us soon,” EPS was quoted as saying.
The invitation to Delhi was reportedly at the “behest” of the Central BJP leadership, though, according to AIADMK leaders in Tamil Nadu, EPS was keen on submitting a detailed dossier on alleged corruption involving the M.K. Stalin-led DMK government to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to seek his intervention.
EPS’s Delhi discussions with Shah and other senior BJP leaders come close on the heels of the Union Home Minister’s recent two-day visit to Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, while Shah attended party events in the state, EPS did not meet him during that visit, sparking speculations. Though Shah did meet senior AIADMK leaders like S.P. Velumani.
Sources indicate that the BJP leadership has been pressing for more seats than EPS is willing to concede. His not meeting Shah during his Tamil Nadu visit left several alliance-related issues unresolved, overall signifying a level of dissatisfaction on both sides. However, AIADMK leaders maintain that EPS’s Delhi visit was planned independently.