Piyush Goyal to Hold Key BJP–AIADMK Talks as NDA Steps Up Tamil Nadu Poll Preparations

With the crucial 2026 Assembly elections due in 4-5 month time, BJP poll process set to gain momentum, when senior Leader and union Minister Piyush Goyal will hold key meetings with leaders of the Tamil Nadu Unit of the BJP on the election preparedness and devise strategy on strengthening the NDA's strategy for the polls.

Apart from holding meeting with Central Committee and Core Committee members tomorrow morning, Mr Goyal, who is the election in-charge of Tamil Nadu, is expected to meet BJP's alliance leader and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, with whom the saffron party has revived its ties.

In the meeting expected to take place in the evening after the one with BJP leaders at the Party's headquarters Kamalalayam, both the leaders were expected to discuss about seat sharing arrangements and on strengthening the NDA by roping in like-minded parties, in

a bid to achieve its goal of ousting the ruling DMK from power, which both the AIADMK and the BJP have been terming it as

'anti-people' and had failed to fulfill its 2021 election promises.

The meeting will be held in the backdrop of reports indicating that BJP State Unit President Nainar Nagendran, who is also the Legislature Party Leader, who met union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to New Delhi when he had reportedly submitted a wish list of 60 constituencies which the saffron party intends to continue.

While suggesting that the party could forgo 10 seats, BJP sources said Mr Nagendran had reportedly told Mr Amit Shah that the BJP should definitely contest not less than 50 seats and have also identified the prospective constituencies.

However, Mr Nagendran had firmly denied that he had submitted any wish list to Mr Amit Shah during the Delhi meeting.

The meeting will also be held in the context of Mr Palaniswami, also the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, welcoming like-minded parties to team up with the AIADMK which shared the AIADMK's objective of dethroning the DMK from power, to

form a grand alliance.

During the meeting with BJP leaders, Mr Goyal was expected to review the steps taken by the State Unit on election preparedness and strengthening the booth level monitoring and devising a concrete strategy, besides discussing about the possibility of roping in former alliance parties and new ones.

Apart from Mr Nagendran, senior leaders, including MLAs, former Presidents K Annamalai and Ms Tamilisai Soundararajan are expected to attend the meeting and share their views with Mr Goyal, who was expected to report it to BJP National Working President Nitin Nabin, who had held a similar meeting in Puducherry yesterday and also cemented continunance of the alliance with the AINRC after a meeting with Chief Minister N Rengasamy.

The AIADMK, which is heading the NDA in Tamil Nadu, has been riddled with some setbacks following desertions of some wellknown faces, who had shifted to the ruling DMK, and sacking of senior leader and former Minister K A Sengottaiyan (who had since joined actor Vijay's fledgling TVK), for raising the unity flag and demanding the reinduction of ousted leaders O Panneerselvam, late leader Jayalalithaa's close aide V K Sasikala and her nephew and AMMK Founder TTV Dhinakaran to take on the ruling DMK in the polls.

Though Mr Palaniswami had outrightly rejected this demand, it was not known whether the topic would figure in tomorrow's meeting with Mr Goyal as Mr Panneerselvam had already met Mr Amit Shah--who had categorically stated that the BJP would not interfere in

the internal affairs of AIADMK--in New Delhi and discussed about the present situation and stressed the importance of AIADMK face the polls as a unified force to take on the formidable DMK-led Front which had won all the successive elections by a massive mandate.

This has gained even more significance after Mr Panneerselvam, who had quit the NDA and has not set any pre-conditions for getting back into the AIADMK-fold, had purportedly sought Mr Amit Shah's intervention on the re-induction issue.

After Mr Panneerselvam walked out of the NDA on being slighted by the BJP Leadership, a couple of days later Mr Dhinakaran too

quit the NDA and has vowed not to return to it untill Mr Palaniswami remained the Chief Minister candidate for 2026 polls.

Having suffered a rout in all the successive elections since 2019, the 2026 elections was crucial for the AIADMK and the BJP and

they were making all efforts to cobble up a strong alliance and has also initiated efforts to bring back its former allies including the

OBC-Vanniyar dominated PMK--which is now a divided house due to the leadership row between the father and son duo of PMK Founder Dr S Ramadoss and his son Dr Anbumani, who were heading their respective factions--and the DMDK of late actor-politician

Vijayakanth and other like-minded parties.

With the elections fast approaching, the NDA is running out of time as the ruling DMK-led Front appeared as formidable as ever

having won all the elections starting for 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 2021 Assembly and 2024 Parliamentary polls with resounding margins dealing a heavy blow to the AIADMK.

The DMK had also started its poll preparednesss in right earnest with Party President and Chief Minister M K Stalin holding periodic

one to one meetings with district units, reviewing the poll arrangements on a regular and also held a preliminary meeting with the

five member election-committee formeed by the Congress High Command to discuss the seat sharing issue.

Though the DMK-led alliance appeared solid and is on firm ground with all the alliance parties reaffirming their continuance in the

Front, the AIADMK and the BJP has been facing an uphill task of stitching together a grand Front.