Chennai, January 21: Ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, TTV Dhinakaran’s party Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) has officially announced its joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Meanwhile, the announcement, made in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, clarified that the AMMK will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in alliance with the AIADMK-BJP alliance.
Earlier, an emergency meeting of the AMMK was held at the party headquarters in Chennai, in which detailed discussions were held with party officials regarding the Assembly election alliance. Speaking to the media after the meeting, TTV Dhinakaran formally confirmed his decision to join the alliance.
“We are going to face the assembly elections by joining the AIADMK-BJP alliance. We are rejoining the NDA with the aim of restoring Jayalalithaa’s government in Tamil Nadu. We should not put the interests of the party and the state aside by revisiting old issues. What happened between us was merely a disagreement between partners. One who compromises never loses,”
Dhinakaran said, citing the Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar’s saying, “Inna Seitharai Oruthal,” and said that the AMMK was joining the NDA to restore the good governance system preferred by the people in Tamil Nadu and would fully cooperate in the formation of a good government in the state.
Following this, Dhinakaran met with BJP in-charge and Union Minister Piyush Goyal at a private hotel in Chennai and formally announced his joining the alliance. The two leaders discussed election strategy and seat sharing. According to party sources, an agreement on how many seats the AMMK will contest may be reached today.
In fact, vote division by the AMMK was considered a major reason for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance’s victory in 40 of the 52 assembly seats in southern Tamil Nadu in the last assembly elections. The combined votes of the AMMK and AIADMK in more than 20 seats outnumbered those of the DMK candidates, a politically significant factor.
Due to the separation of some leaders, including O. Panneerselvam, there were fears that the AIADMK would be weakened in the southern districts in the 2026 assembly elections. In such a situation, TTV Dhinakaran’s return to the NDA is being seen as an additional political boost for the AIADMK.
To further strengthen the NDA, the BJP is also attempting to include parties like the DMDK (Temudik) and the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) in the alliance. A large public rally of the alliance parties is scheduled for Friday in Madurantakam, near Chennai, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Therefore, it will be crucial to see whether the DMDK and NTK join the NDA.
The DMDK, in particular, is considered more likely to join the NDA, while the NTK, which has already announced its candidates in more than 20 assembly seats, is considered less likely.
Political experts believe that the AMMK’s return to the NDA appears to be creating a new coalition balance in Tamil Nadu politics, which could have a direct impact on the upcoming assembly elections.