AIADMK and BJP together could have won 30 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu; Annamalai is why we severed ties, says SP Velumani

COIMBATORE: AIADMK leader and former state minister S P Velumani on Thursday blamed BJP state chief K Annamalai for the split in AIADMK-BJP ties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claimed that had the poll alliance remained intact, the combine would have won 30-35 seats.

“But now the AIADMK is firm in its stand on the break-up of the alliance. Once separated is separated as AIADMK is a party that adheres to the alliance dharma,” he added.

Velumani told reporters in Coimbatore that Annamalai had needlessly criticised AIADMK leaders including C N Annadurai, J Jayalalithaa and even Edappadi K Palaniswami. "It was Annamalai who spoke too much, not us. He was the reason behind the breakup of the AIADMK-BJP alliance. He is a newcomer to politics," Velumani said.

He added that he believed if the BJP were in alliance with the AIADMK, the combine could have won 30-35 seats.

The leader also said that the AIADMK has learnt its lesson from the poll outcome. "We will strive hard and ensure a victory for the AIADMK in the 2026 assembly election," he said, claiming that the vote share of AIADMK has increased from 19.39 per cent in 2019 polls to 20.46 per cent this time, as against a drop in the vote share of the DMK.

“The BJP secured lower votes than NOTA in 2016 polls. Rather than criticizing the AIADMK, Annamalai should try to safeguard his post and focus on fulfilling the promises he made to Coimbatore ahead of polls as the NDA alliance is forming government in the centre. Only because of a false campaign that AIADMK-BJP is in a secret alliance, the AIADMK couldn’t get the minority votes,” Velumani further added.

The former minister went on to say that the AIADMK-BJP alliance was going well when L Murugan and Tamilisai Soundararajan were state presidents and that they had never insulted the AIADMK leaders. "At least now, Annamalai should stop criticising the AIADMK and take steps to fulfill the promises he made to the people during the elections," he commented.

Meanwhile, Velumani also made a further dig that Annamalai got fewer votes than what BJP leader C P Radhakrishnan secured during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Coimbatore.

Reacting to Velumani's comments, Annamalai told reporters at the Coimbatore airport that it was the AIADMK leader who had gotten the facts wrong. He questioned the rationale behind Velumani's claim that if the alliance was intact, it could have won 30 to 35 seats, wondering how that could be accepted when the AIADMK on its own had failed to win a single seat in the state.