Chennai: As the Lok Sabha election campaign intensifies in Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), initially perceived as the underdog, is gaining momentum under the leadership of Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), the party’s general secretary.
Contrary to earlier predictions that pitted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), EPS is now steering the AIADMK into the spotlight — challenging both the incumbent and Opposition parties.
With a focus on uniting party members and securing traditional voter support, EPS is tackling the formidable task of establishing himself as the leading opposition figure in the state. Tamil Nadu goes for polls in the first phase on 19 April and the campaign for the election ends on 17 April.
After a long power struggle since the demise of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016, EPS was elected as the general secretary of AIADMK in 2022. This election marks his first solo foray into the general elections.
Right from selecting the candidates to positioning himself at the centre of state politics, hitting it out at both the DMK and the BJP, AIADMK workers see similarities with Jayalalithaa and EPS in the party’s function.
The party senior leaders ThePrint spoke to also found some similarities between the two leaders, especially in handling the elections.
“When AIADMK was in the Opposition, ahead of the election, Amma (Jayalalithaa) would organise a region-wise protest or a conference to create an election mood, and thereafter, would go on to announce the candidates, election manifesto and finally she would go on for a campaign. She also would change the candidates frequently before filing nominations, and most of the time the reasons were known only to her,” recounted a senior AIADMK leader in Chennai.
EPS also did the same, but this time, more than consolidating his base and creating an election mood among the party workers, he wanted an image outside the party as the AIADMK had been in alliance with the BJP, the leader told ThePrint.
“Naturally, there was an anti-minority image, some Other Backward Class (OBC) outfits also felt we may not be of much help to them as we were with the BJP. So, instead of the regional-level party conferences and protests, he (EPS) went ahead attending the conference of the minority party (Social Democratic Party of India) and some internal meetings of the caste outfits in the Delta region as well as the southern region,” the senior leader told ThePrint.
However, political analysts initially felt that the AIADMK had given up on the 2024 elections as they were looking at 2026.
“But, days after the election campaign started, he (EPS) realised that the political narrative was turning into DMK vs BJP and then only he started criticising the BJP. In a way, that’s good for the AIADMK,” said A. Ramasamy, political analyst and former head of the Tamil department at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.
Also Read: Modi gears up for 7th visit to TN this year, targets 6 seats — a look at BJP’s gameplan in state
BJP: From ally to adversary
Until a week ago, EPS maintained that it was unfair to criticise their erstwhile ally BJP. However, on 10 April, he made a scathing attack on the Prime Minister’s frequent visits to Tamil Nadu.
“Leaders are coming from Delhi by plane; they are conducting roadshows; what is the use of travelling on the road? Will people therefore vote for you? No matter how many leaders come and go and give interviews, no one can fool the people,” EPS said in his campaign in Tirupur district, receiving huge applause from the crowd. He was referring to PM Modi’s roadshow in Chennai held on 9 April.
This was probably the first time he criticised a BJP leader since his party severed its ties with the BJP last year. At the time of severing the ties, AIADMK former minister D. Jayakumar said that they wouldn’t want to continue the alliance with the BJP after the party’s state president Annamalai criticised former chief minister and Dravidian stalwart C.N. Annadurai.
“This is what Amma (Jayalalithaa) would also do. Do you remember the 2014 campaign? She would not spare the BJP-led NDA as well as the DMK party in the state,” A. Karthikeyan, a party worker from Pollachi, who attended a public meeting in which EPS participated on 10 April, told ThePrint.
While there has been discontent inside the party for having an alliance with the BJP since 2021, EPS took a strong call to sever all its ties with the BJP only in September 2023.
Meanwhile, in March 2023, Annamalai also said that he would like to go all alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to build his party’s base for the 2026 assembly polls.
Like EPS, until a week ago, Annamalai had not criticised the AIADMK vocally after leaving the alliance. But, after EPS slammed the BJP national and state leadership, the BJP state president criticised the AIADMK leader for not having any views on any issues. He also challenged that the AIADMK will not be there after the Lok Sabha elections.
Concerns over vote shift to BJP
At the grassroots level, there is a palpable anxiety among AIADMK members in the western and southern districts of Tamil Nadu about the potential migration of their traditional voter base to the BJP.
“They were hardcore AIADMK workers, but this election, they are shifting their sides to the BJP. We don’t know what makes them shift sides,” said K. Nachimuthu, an AIADMK worker in Coimbatore district in the western region of Tamil Nadu.
In the southern region, another AIADMK member from Ramanathapuram suggested that voters shifting allegiance to the BJP are motivated by the belief that their “caste pride” would be better safeguarded under the BJP rule.
Party leaders O. Panneerselvam and T.T.V. Dhinakaran belong to the socially dominant Mukkulathor community, an umbrella of Kallar, Maravars and Agamudaiyar castes in Tamil Nadu.
According to political researcher Arun Kumar, however, the lack of an ideological base was the reason for the shifting of votes.
“The AIADMK and the BJP have largely remained on the same page when it comes to ideology. Former CM Jayalalithaa was the one who asked: ‘If we cannot build a temple in India for Lord Ram, where else can we build it?’ She was the one who banned sacrificing goats in the temple. AIADMK was built only on the anti-DMK base. Since the BJP also has all these criteria, people tend to shift their sides,” explained Kumar, adding that it may not have an impact on the AIADMK’s vote share.
Ever since AIADMK was founded, barring the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, the party has not polled less than 30 percent of votes in any parliamentary polls, according to the Election Commission of India.
“If the AIADMK manages to get its traditional vote base of 30 percent, then we can understand that the vote transfer did not happen on a large scale,” said the political researcher.
Meanwhile, AIADMK spokesperson Babu Murugavel said that they don’t even bother about the BJP since the party does not have any presence in the state.
“They (BJP) just showcase their strength with the national leaders, but they really don’t have anybody on the ground. We are grounded, and the election results would show who has more strength on the ground,” he asserted.
However, BJP state vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy told ThePrint that the AIADMK would know the reality on the day of the results.
“People are now ready for change and we are the change. Both the parties will know it on the day of results,” Thirupathy asserted.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Also Read: BJP is going after DMK not for seats. The goal is to capture Tamil mindset for now