BJP’s shadow, ousted leaders & Thevar votes — AIADMK cadres tell EPS what went wrong in LS polls

AIADMK gen secy & Tamil Nadu ex-CM Palaniswami is holding 10-day meeting with party functionaries and workers to analyse showing in LS polls and map out next moves.

File photo of AIADMK general secretary & LoP Edappadi Palaniswami with senior party leaders | ANI

Chennai: AIADMK functionaries have conveyed to the leadership that the party’s “anti-BJP” stand did not trickle down to the ground and was among the reasons for its rout in the Lok Sabha polls, ThePrint has learnt.

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Edappadi K. Palaniswami is holding a 10-day consultative meeting with functionaries at the party headquarters in Chennai. The meeting, which began Wednesday, is expected to conclude by 19 July.

While functionaries from Kancheepuram and Sriperumbudur attended the meeting on 10 July, those from Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Sivaganga attended the next day.

A senior AIADMK leader who attended the meeting said that the party’s stand against former ally BJP did not reach the people on the ground.

“People on the ground are not ready to believe that we (AIADMK) have really parted ways with BJP. The DMK’s campaign that we would join hands with BJP post polls reached (the ground) well and it was difficult to shove it aside,” said the functionary, who met Palaniswami Thursday.

Chennai-based political commentator N. Sathiya Moorthy, too, said it was natural for voters to think that AIADMK would join hands with BJP post polls. “All their attacks were aimed at BJP leader Annamalai. AIADMK did not criticise the Union government and BJP at all. So, even we are given to understand that AIADMK has problems only with Annamalai and not with the party and the Union government,” told ThePrint.

A former minister, who was in the consultative meeting along with Palaniswami, confirmed that party workers were frustrated that their ‘anti-BJP’ stand did not work on the ground. “Now Edappadi has asked our senior leaders to sharpen their criticism of and counterclaims against the BJP and its (state) president Annamalai,” he said.

Reflecting on the preliminary post poll analysis, AIADMK leader and former state minister D. Jayakumar Thursday reiterated that the party would never enter into an alliance with BJP in the future. “Let it be the 2026 assembly election or any other election in the state, AIADMK will never have an alliance with BJP,” Jayakumar told ThePrint.

To a question about Annamalai criticising state Congress chief K. Selvaperunthagai, Jayakumar said the Tamil Nadu BJP president is a “phantom” who has now set his sights on the Congress.

Asked to respond, Annamalai termed all rival political parties in Tamil Nadu as ‘devils’ and said he has taken up the task to ‘chase them’.

AIADMK alliance with BJP

After the demise of former chief minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa in 2016, AIADMK joined hands with the BJP. The two contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly polls as allies.

However, the AIADMK walked out of the BJP-led NDA in September last year following a protracted rift between the state leaders of both parties.

“Every day we had been talking to the media that we are no longer in alliance with BJP. But, what went wrong was, we strongly criticised DMK and ignored BJP. This led the people to think that we would join hands with BJP again post polls,” explained the former minister quoted earlier.

However, Palaniswami has reassured cadres that they would perform much better in the upcoming 2026 assembly elections and stitch better alliances to achieve the same.

“He did not let cadres feel down. He encouraged them by saying that they performed better in their constituencies. Though they were behind in some of the areas, he took booth-wise data and encouraged them to concentrate on the areas where they fell short this time,” said the former minister.

Ousted AIADMK leaders & Thevar votes

Days before the consultative committee meeting, senior ministers from western Tamil Nadu had met Palaniswami at his Salem residence and urged him to consider the return of ousted AIADMK leaders.

Tamil Nadu-based political commentator S.P. Lakshmanan confirmed to ThePrint that a six-member group including former ministers P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani met Palaniswami on 8 July.

“The leaders explained to Palaniswami that the back-to-back electoral defeats are not good for the party and it is because they all are separated. They also told him that if this situation continues, workers would not work for the party anymore,” Lakshmanan told ThePrint.

However, when asked about the meeting, Velumani denied having discussed these issues with Palaniswami.

Jayakumar, too, denied any such discussions Thursday and said the party would never take back V.K. Sasikala, T.T.V. Dhinakaran and O. Panneerselvam. “They betrayed the party. How can betrayers be taken back into the party,” he asked. He also said that real AIADMK workers would not accept the return of those who betrayed the party.

It was also interesting to note that of the functionaries from five Lok Sabha constituencies who attended the consultative meeting Wednesday and Thursday, only one group was from a constituency in the southern part of the state, Sivaganga.

While the others did not raise the issue of BJP cutting into AIADMK votes, it was raised by functionaries from Sivaganga.

“It is largely because of ousted senior leaders. A chunk of Mukkulathor votes in our district went to BJP. Had they been with us, we would have definitely won the election. I did not raise it in the meeting, but our leader (Palaniswami) has assured us that things will be alright soon with a stronger alliance next time,” said a senior AIADMK functionary from Sivaganga who did not wish to be named.

The three key AIADMK leaders who are no longer with the party, namely Sasikala, Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam belong to the Mukkulathor or Thevar community — an umbrella term used to refer to three OBC sub-castes, Kallar, Maravar and Agamudaiyar.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)