AIADMK tells Annamalai to stop ‘day dreaming’ of coming to power in 2026

CHENNAI: Not the disparaging remarks on Dravidian stalwarts by BJP state president K Annamalai, but it was his claim to power in 2026 Assembly election that seems to have infuriated the AIADMK’s leadership.

The BJP and its leadership, according to the AIADMK leaders, have a tough opponent in the form of None of The Above (NOTA) when it comes to elections in Tamil Nadu. They also advised the former IPS officer-turned-politician to know his limits and asked him to avoid “daydreaming” of forming their own government in the land of Periyar.

“We can’t remain a mute spectator to Annamalai’s repeated and unrealistic statements that his party will form the government in the forthcoming Assembly polls. We have to show him his place in the political landscape of TN,” said a former minister, preferring anonymity.

The former IPS officer-turned-politician’s rhetoric further set a narrative that the saffron party is playing the role of prime opposition to the DMK government. This angered many AIADMK leaders and resulted in a war of words between the allies of the National Democratic Alliance.

Senior AIADMK leaders KP Munusamy, C Ponnaiyan, KA Sengottaiyan and several other leaders rebutted the BJP leader and his sycophants’ claims. They overtly expressed their strong displeasure to continue the alliance with the BJP on multiple occasions.

Munusamy, in fact, registered in the state Assembly in May this year that AIADMK would take on DMK by its horn to continue the political dichotomy. The same has been expressed by AIADMK’s spokesperson D Jayakumar on Monday and showed the mirror to the BJP. He went on to say that “AIADMK is the identity for BJP in TN and it cannot gain ground in the state.”

It all boiled down to this point following Annamalai’s repeated claim that BJP would form the government in the state in 2026.

“Here, it’s AIADMK vs DMK. And the bi-polar politics since 1972 between the Dravidian majors will continue and there is no room for national parties in the state,” asserted a senior party leader.

“We are not here to aid the BJP’s dream to form the government of their own. We are crystal clear in our agenda of forming an alliance, keeping the 2026 Assembly elections in mind. The political parties that accept our general secretary (Edappadi K Palaniswami) as the Chief Minister candidate for the next Assembly polls, will be part of the AIADMK-led alliance for the Lok Sabha election next year,” said a senior leader in the Kogu region.

Recalling 2021 polls, another party functionary said Annamalai campaigned in Aravakuruchi constituency and sought votes in the name of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa.

“He did not even utter the name of his party leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign. He secured around 68,000 votes because of our support,” he said and asked him whether he is brave enough to face the elections without the support of the AIADMK?