​Power and agenda: on the AIADMK-BJP alliance

AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s assertion that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while in Chennai last week, did not talk of power sharing in the event of the victory of the newly stitched AIADMK-BJP alliance in the 2026 Assembly election, is not surprising given the State’s contemporary political history. Tamil Nadu is not known to have multi-party regimes. It did not have such an arrangement even in 1952 and 2006 when the Assembly elections did not produce a single-party majority. Even in June 1980, political observers were stunned by the decisive vote in favour of the AIADMK and the rejection of the DMK-Congress combine, which had agreed on sharing power. The AIADMK’s victory was considered to be sensational because in January that year, it had bagged only two Lok Sabha constituencies as against the 37 seats for the DMK-Congress coalition. An explanation was that even though the DMK-Congress front had proposed a coalition ministry, it was an idea that did not go down well with the voter. Since then, the two Dravidian majors have shunned the idea of a coalition government. However, what is inexplicable is the AIADMK chief taking almost a week to clarify the party’s position, even though he was a part of Mr. Shah’s media meet in Chennai. Mr. Shah had said that the issue of the BJP becoming a part of the ministry would be decided after the election. On two earlier occasions including one after his meeting with Mr. Palaniswami in New Delhi last month, Mr. Shah had referred to the nomenclature of the National Democratic Alliance.

The Congress, which lost power in the State in 1967, has also expressed its desire on several occasions to have a share in power. In 2006, when the DMK regime was dependent on the Congress for a majority, former chief of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee E.V.K.S. Elangovan ruffled the DMK’s feathers by demanding a slice of the cake. It is natural that the BJP, which for the first time in Tamil Nadu, saw an improved vote share in the 2024 general election, of 11.4%, without the support of either Dravidian major, is now keen to share power. It is also likely that it might want the AIADMK to follow the example set by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Despite a majority of 135 seats in the 2024 Assembly election, the TDP accommodated the BJP and the Jana Sena Party in the State Cabinet. Apart from the two national parties, the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, in Tamil Nadu, are known advocates of the concept of power sharing. The AIADMK and the BJP should focus on a credible alternative plan of action such as addressing the State’s chronic problems and livelihood issues before talking about sharing power. Power is a tool of politics, and not its ultimate goal.