Political narratives, if left unchallenged, can tip the balance in elections. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami seems to be more aware of this than anyone else in the Tamil Nadu electoral field this election season.
Since he reluctantly returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last April at the behest of BJP’s chief election strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Palaniswami has been under attack from his rivals, mainly the ruling DMK and its allies.
In recent years, the DMK front has built a strong political narrative that projects AIADMK leaders as subservient to the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led Union government.
This perception was reinforced by the decision of the erstwhile AIADMK government, under O. Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, to embrace certain central schemes that Jayalalithaa, her predecessor, had staunchly opposed during her lifetime. This included the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), which Tamil Nadu joined in January 2017, barely a month after his death.
Poll framed as Tamil Nadu vs Delhi
Of late, this narrative gained further momentum after Modi and Shah repeatedly avoided endorsing Palaniswami as the chief ministerial face of the NDA in the upcoming Assembly elections. Instead, the two leaders have publicly advocated for an NDA government including the BJP in Tamil Nadu, led by the AIADMK.
It is in this context that DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin is trying to frame this Assembly election as a contest between Tamil Nadu and New Delhi.
Some leaders, including Congress MP B. Manickam Tagore and state Transport Minister SS Sivasankar, have warned that Palaniswami could become the Nitish Kumar of Tamil Nadu. What they are implying is that the BJP could, at some point, force him to resign as Chief Minister, just like Kumar, who offered to resign as Chief Minister of Bihar.
Critics also point to developments in Maharashtra, where splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party are widely believed to have been encouraged by the BJP.
‘Subordinate behavior’
Stalin has even gone so far as to accuse Palaniswami of offering a “adimai sasanam (letter on slavery)” to the Union Government.
Some of Mr. Palaniswami’s actions and developments within the NDA in Tamil Nadu have lent weight to such criticism. For example, the AIADMK leader traveled to New Delhi twice to meet Shah and discuss the contours of the electoral alliance. This is a reversal of the typical process, in which leaders of national parties that have limited influence in the Dravidian state visit Tamil Nadu to negotiate alliances with dominant regional players.
Furthermore, some allies, such as TTV Dhinakaran of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, have tried to bypass the AIADMK entirely, saying they would deal directly with the BJP on seat-sharing deals.
Pushing back
However, after these developments, Palaniswami appears to have mounted a calibrated measure to counter this perception. This week, he took many by surprise by claiming that NDA leaders including Piyush Goyal (BJP), R. Anbumani (PMK) and Mr. Dhinakaran visited MGR Maaligai, the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.
In their presence, Palaniswami took center stage and announced the number of seats allotted to each party, underlining his authority within the alliance. He also responded by pointing out that DMK leaders like Kanimozhi Karunanidhi had also flown to Delhi to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In a subtle but significant signal, it allotted the BJP 27 seats, one less than the DMK conceded to the Congress under pressure. It also concluded the NDA’s seat-sharing exercise ahead of the DMK, which this time faced a tougher task in persuading its allies to accept fewer seats. Going a step further, Palaniswami has already declared that the constituencies will be contested by allies and released the first list of 23 AIADMK candidates. He also resumed his campaign, polling votes for BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan in Chennai’s Mylapore constituency even before his party had formally announced its candidates.
More importantly, it conceded only one seat in Chennai district to the BJP, despite the party’s better performance in the region in the last Lok Sabha elections. He has also allocated several constituencies currently represented by sitting ministers to his allies, effectively transferring the burden of high-stakes contests to them.
Real test yet to come
However, Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) leader GK Vasan’s decision to field five candidates on the BJP’s lotus symbol, along with a similar move by another group, has effectively increased the BJP’s numbers beyond what it had been formally allotted.
For those familiar with Palaniswami’s political trajectory, such maneuvers are not entirely surprising. After all, he was the leader who managed to sideline Jayalalithaa’s long-time aide VK Sasikala despite her instrumental role in her rise to the Chief Minister’s post nine years ago. He has also asserted himself within the AIADMK, surpassing leaders like Mr Panneerselvam and veteran KA Sengottaiyan.
Their battle is far from over. His real test will come on May 4, when the votes are counted, and if his party moves closer to power, it remains to be seen whether he can resist the BJP’s desire to be a partner in government.
Published – March 26, 2026 07:55 pm IST
