‘Alliance of defeat’: MK Stalin hits out at Amit Shah over AIADMK-BJP tie-up in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Friday slammed the renewed alliance between the AIADMK and BJP, calling it an “alliance of defeat” and branding Union home minister Amit Shah’s Chennai press conference “unworthy of the position he holds.”
In a statement released by DMK, Stalin said, “The AIADMK-BJP alliance is an alliance of defeat. The people of Tamil Nadu are the ones who repeatedly handed down this defeat.” He criticised Shah for reviving a failed partnership without offering any ideological clarity. “Though it is his choice to confirm the AIADMK-BJP alliance, he did not clarify why this alliance was formed or on what ideological foundation it stands. Instead, he vaguely claimed they would work on forming a ‘common minimum programme.’”
The DMK chief questioned whether core issues raised by AIADMK—such as opposition to NEET, the three-language policy, Hindi imposition, the Waqf Act, and concerns over Tamil Nadu’s seat count in the upcoming delimitation—would be part of this so-called programme.

The AIADMK-BJP alliance was officially revived on Friday, with Amit Shah announcing that the NDA would contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections under the leadership of AIADMK’s Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS).
As part of the reshuffle, BJP legislator and former AIADMK minister Nainar Nagendran filed his nomination for Tamil Nadu BJP president, replacing K Annamalai. Shah praised Annamalai’s contributions and said his organisational strengths would now be used at the national level.
The renewed alliance marks a turning point following a turbulent period between the two parties. The BJP-AIADMK partnership had fractured after Annamalai made controversial remarks about late AIADMK leader and former CM J Jayalalithaa. AIADMK leaders had accused him of disrespect and demanded a more equal footing in the alliance.
Amit Shah, however, sought to allay concerns, said, “AIADMK has no conditions and demands... We will have no interference in the internal matters of the AIADMK. This alliance is going to be beneficial to both NDA and AIADMK.” He also assured that the alliance would be “permanent” going forward.
Earlier this year, Nagendran had indicated that EPS was open to dialogue and that building an alliance didn’t require pressure tactics. Though Annamalai had initially distanced himself from those remarks, he later said he was ready to serve the party in any role.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, both BJP and AIADMK contested separately and failed to win even a single seat in Tamil Nadu, while the DMK-led alliance swept all 39 constituencies. With the alliance now back in place, both parties will mount a joint challenge to the ruling DMK in the upcoming 2026 assembly elections.