TN BJP chief to meet Amit Shah in Delhi amid alliance talks in state

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday, amid renewed political churn over alliance equations in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

Nagenthran’s Delhi visit comes in the immediate backdrop of a key development within the AIADMK. At its recent General Council meeting, the party passed a resolution authorising general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) to take the final call on alliance partners for future elections.

Shortly after the resolution was adopted, Nagenthran met Palaniswami at the latter's residence in Chennai, fuelling speculation of renewed coordination between the BJP and the AIADMK.

Following the Chennai meeting, Nagenthran travelled by flight to the national capital.

Earlier, speaking to the media in Tamil Nadu, he said his visit to Delhi was to attend a function marking the release of a commemorative postal stamp in honour of Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar, a historic Tamil ruler. However, the political significance of the visit sharpened after he held discussions with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In a post on the social media platform X on Saturday, Nagenthran said he met Sitharaman during what he described as a “pilgrimage visit” and submitted several petitions and representations he had received from the public during his recent outreach programmes across Tamil Nadu.

While no official details of the discussions were shared, the meeting has been viewed as part of wider consultations with the BJP’s central leadership.

Sources said Nagenthran is likely to meet Amit Shah later in the day, a development that is being closely watched in political circles.

The BJP-AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu has gone through multiple phases of cooperation and tension over the past few years. While the two parties contested together in the 2021 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, differences over leadership, seat-sharing, and regional political narratives have periodically surfaced.

The AIADMK’s decision to empower Palaniswami to independently decide on alliances is seen as an attempt to consolidate authority within the party and negotiate from a position of strength.

For the BJP, which has been steadily attempting to expand its footprint in Tamil Nadu, maintaining a functional relationship with the AIADMK remains strategically important.

Nagenthran’s back-to-back engagements -- first with Palaniswami in Chennai and now with senior Union ministers in Delhi -- are therefore being seen as a key moment that could offer early signals on the future direction of the alliance as the 2026 Assembly polls draw closer.