New Delhi: Tamil Nadu’s opposition party AIADMK officially ended their alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday, months before the general elections in 2024.
The party’s legislators passed the unanimous resolution in a meeting to this effect, AIADMK Deputy Coordinator K.P. Munusamy said.
He said: “The AIADMK is breaking all ties with the BJP and the NDA alliance from today. The state leadership of the BJP has continuously made unnecessary remarks about our former leaders, our cadres and our general secretary Edappaddi K. Palaniswamy for the last one year.”
To the bursting of firecrackers at the party headquarters in Chennai, Munusamy announced that the party would form a new alliance and face the upcoming Parliamentary elections by itself.
VIDEO | AIADMK announces to break alliance with BJP in #TamilNadu.
"We are breaking our alliance with BJP and NDA. AIADMK will form a new alliance and face upcoming Parliamentary elections," says party. pic.twitter.com/TWpbMrQKPT
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 25, 2023
Last Monday, AIADMK senior leader D. Jayakumar had said they would break up with the BJP, slamming the national party’s state chief K. Annamalai for speaking ill of AIADMK’s former leaders.
“He spoke about Amma (Jayalalithaa) and then apologised, then he spoke about Anna and Periyar. Enough is enough. We can’t tolerate it anymore. If Annamalai continues to criticise our leaders, we will retaliate strongly,” the AIADMK organising secretary said.
All had not been well with the BJP and the AIADMK – in an alliance since 2019 – after Annamalai’s 11 September remark on Dravidian icon and former chief minister C. N. Annadurai.