Chennai:

Tamil Nadu’s main opposition party AIADMK on Wednesday finalised the seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha polls with allies DMDK, SDPI and Puthiya Tamizhagam.

Announcing the electoral pacts here at the party headquarters, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the DMDK would contest from Tiruvallur (SC), Central Chennai, Cuddalore, Thanjavur and Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituencies.

Puthiya Tamizhagam has (PT) been allocated Tenkasi constituency and SDPI the Dindigul segment, Palaniswami said.

The poll pacts were signed with DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth, PT chief K Krishansamy and SDPI’s state unit chief Nellai Mubarak.

On DMK making several assurances in its manifesto for the LS polls, Palaniswami asked if the ruling party has fulfilled promises made ahead of the 2019 Parliamentary election and the 2021 Assembly polls.

“How many assurances has the DMK fulfilled? Ahead of the (2021) Assembly polls, the DMK had repeatedly affirmed that once it captured power it would scrap NEET for Tamil Nadu. Three years have gone by. However, the assurance has not been fulfilled,” Palaniswami said.

Though the DMK has 38 MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha, they did not exert pressure on the Centre to get NEET annulled. “That is why we say that people of Tamil Nadu will not get any benefit even if they (DMK) win elections,” Palaniswami, the former chief minister, said.

For the DMDK, which was founded by actor-politician ‘Captain’ Vijayakanth in 2005, this would be the first election the party is set to fight after his death on December 28 last year. His wife and DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth described the AIADMK as a “natural ally.” She said that a “big victory alliance”, like the one ahead of the 2011 Assembly polls, has been formed again.

“This victory alliance will continue in the 2026 Assembly polls also,” she revealed.

When DMDK aligned with the AIADMK in 2011, history was created with the alliance sweeping the polls. While J Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister, Vijayakanth got the post of the leader of the opposition, she said.

2011 was a watershed moment for the DMDK, when it won 29 seats as part of the AIADMK-led alliance, pushing DMK to the third spot in the assembly as it managed to secure only 23. This enabled Vijayakanth to become the leader of the opposition.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Krishnagiri/Chennai:

The opposition AIADMK on Thursday said it will not go back on its decision of severing ties with the BJP and reiterated that the party would cobble up an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and the next assembly election too.

The party’s Deputy General Secretary KP Munusamy ruled out any scope of reconsidering the decision announced on September 25 under any circumstances, as the AIADMK needed to honour the sentiments of two crore party workers.

Following a meeting chaired by party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai, the AIADMK announced that it was parting ways with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

“We did not ask the BJP leadership to remove the state president (K Annamalai)” Mr Munusamy told reporters in Krishnagiri.

In Chennai, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who was expelled from the AIADMK, accused Palaniswami of breaking the alliance with the BJP.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Panneerselvam said BJP leaders were in constant touch with him and that he would make his stance known only after the BJP makes a formal announcement about the alliance. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Monday took a break from wedding preps – the Rajya Sabha MP is expected to marry actor Parineeti Chopra in Rajasthan this month – to take a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party after it was dumped by Tamil Nadu ally All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Mr Chadha – whose AAP is part of the INDIA bloc – quoted a NDTV alert – and said, “Whenever someone tried to break INDIA, it itself broke and disintegrated… same thing happened today…”

“Our INDIA alliance was strong yesterday and is strong even today… but sadly the NDA (the BJP-led national alliance) which throws stones at other people’s houses could not save its own house.”

जब भी किसी ने ‘INDIA’ को तोड़ने की कोशिश करी, वो खुद टूटकर भिखर गया…

आज भी ऐसा ही हुआ

हमारा INDIA गठबंधन तो कल भी मज़बूत था आज भी मज़बूत है, मगर अफसोस की दूसरों के घरों पर पत्थर मारने वाला NDA अपना घर ही नहीं बचा पाया। https://t.co/OKhfmjXMyd

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) September 18, 2023

Mr Chadha’s comment comes amid reports of disagreements and infighting within INDIA, particularly as it negotiates seat-sharing pacts in Bengal, Delhi and Punjab. 

READ | Need To Fight Together With INDIA Bloc: Sonia Gandhi’s Unity Message

The AAP is the ruling party in the latter two states and there are whispers that some within the party do not look kindly on an alliance with the Congress. And in Bengal (and Kerala) there are more than mere whispers after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said it would not ally with anyone.

READ | Left Blow To INDIA Unity? No Bengal, Kerala Tie-Ups, Say Sources

The CPIM’s main rivals are the Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool.

Nilotpal Basu, a former Rajya Sabha MP, told NDTV “there are differences (within INDIA)… it is a reality” but left his foot in the door, saying the decision “doesn’t negate a (future) alliance”.

However, in Tamil Nadu the Congress and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – the AIADMK’s sworn rival – have all but agreed terms to continue what has been, so far, a successful alliance.

AIADMK v BJP In Tamil Nadu?

Earlier today senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said his party had broken ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party with the 2024 Lok Sabha election and state polls around the corner. 

The party is furious about BJP state unit leader K Annamalai’s comments on the late CN Annadurai, who was AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran’s mentor.

READ | AIADMK Says No BJP Alliance For Now, Will Decide Before Polls

Mr Annamalai frequently mocks both his ally and rival – – leading to talk the BJP is trying to play one Dravidian party against the other to create space for itself in a state that has historically rejected it.

However, top BJP sources have told NDTV the squabble will be sorted out.