AIADMK blames TN BJP chief Annamalai for NDA’s split, drubbing in Lok Sabha polls

Chennai: AIADMK leader and former minister, SP Velumani has accused Tamil Nadu BJP President, K Annamalai of being the reason behind the split in the NDA in the state.

It may be recalled that AIADMK had broken its ties with the BJP in September 2023 following differences of opinion with K Annamalai.

In a statement on Thursday, the AIADMK leader, who is considered the right hand man of party General Secretary and former Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) said that if both the AIADMK and BJP had contested the Lok Sabha polls together, they would have won a minimum of 35 seats in Tamil Nadu.

The senior leader said that when Tamilisai Soundararajan and L Murugan were state presidents of the BJP, there were no issues with the party.

He added that it was Annamalai who spoiled the relationship between the BJP and AIADMK.

It may be recalled that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, both the AIADMK and the BJP drew a blank in the state.

In the past, the AIADMK won back to back Assembly elections in 2011 and 2016.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, AIADMK received 33.29 per cent vote share and the present vote share of the party is around 23 per cent.

The party leader also said that in the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP could win four Assembly seats as it was in an alliance with the AIADMK.

KR Krishnamoorthy, a Salem-based political analyst told IANS, “AIADMK leader SP Velumani’s statement is correct. If the BJP and AIADMK had contested the polls together, then they could have won a large number of seats. It was immature of K Annamalai to snap ties with the AIADMK which is the second-largest Dravidian party in Tamil Nadu.”