Palaniswami says no alliance talks with BJP, but keeps door ajar after meeting Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: AIADMK's Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday said there were no talks for alliance with the BJP, which gained ground after the former Tamil Nadu CM reached New Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah at his house.
However, the former Tamil Nadu CM said he would only consider talks of an alliance after the election dates are announced.
"Is election date is announced to speak about alliance? In 2019 and 2021 we spoke about alliance only near to election. Alliance and ideology is different. Our ideology is constant. and alliance would be based on circumstances. Circumstances only decide the alliance. There is still one year is for election," Palaniswami told news agency PTI.
"There is nothing related to alliance. we came here for people issues. Only media is giving news about alliance for sensationalism. There is still one year for the election," he further added.

Palaniswami said his meeting with Shah was about the Enforcement Directorate case linked to an alleged scam in the state-run liquor corporation, TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited).
The AIADMK's general secretary urged for a detailed inquiry into the case.
"Various issues of Tamil Nadu were discussed with Union Minister Amit Shah. We stressed two-language policy should continue in the State. Requested to release funds and implement various schemes for Railway projects," the AIADMK leader told news agency PTI in Delhi.

Palaniswami's visit to Shah's house came at a time when rumours were rife that ex-allies may come together to fight assembly polls next year.
In September 2023, the AIADMK made a decisive break as it severed ties with the BJP, ending an alliance that had been riddled with tension. AIADMK leaders were reportedly frustrated with the BJP’s growing ambitions in Tamil Nadu and its leaders' controversial remarks about Dravidian icons like Periyar.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections approaching, AIADMK announced it would go solo, determined to carve its own path without the BJP’s influence. But this wasn’t the first time their alliance had fallen apart. In 2019, AIADMK, still recovering from the death of Jayalalithaa, joined hands with BJP to take on the rising DMK-Congress front.
The results were disastrous—the alliance won just 1 seat, while the DMK swept Tamil Nadu. Despite the setback, AIADMK stuck with the BJP for the 2021

Tamil Nadu Assembly elections

, where they lost again, securing only 75 out of 234 seats.
The BJP, a junior partner in the coalition, managed to scrape by with 4 seats. The roots of their alliance go long back to 1998. Under Jayalalithaa’s leadership, AIADMK first joined forces with the BJP-led NDA. It was a successful experiment, bringing them 30 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. But within a year, Jayalalithaa withdrew support, toppling Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government.
Since then, their relationship had been anything but steady. AIADMK kept shifting between alliances and independence, sometimes partnering with the BJP, sometimes choosing to stand alone.