• Source:JND
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In a major jolt to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK on Monday snapped ties with the alliance. The formal split was announced by AIADMK Deputy General Secretary KP Munusamy after a resolution was passed unanimously at a meeting of MPs, MLAs and district heads at the party’s headquarters in Chennai.

“AIADMK is breaking all ties with BJP and NDA from today. The state leadership of the BJP has been continuously making unnecessary remarks about our former leaders, our general secretary EPS and our cadres for the past year,” KP Munusamy, AIADMK deputy coordinator said while announcing the decision.

The party also decided that it would lead a separate front for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The decision was celebrated by party workers in Chennai by setting off firecrackers.

Why AIADMK Severed Ties With BJP?

The decision comes after months of speculation about AIADMK’s deteriorating ties with the BJP. The South Indian party was outraged by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai's repeated remarks against AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran's mentor, late former chief minister CN Annadurai.

Annadurai was the last chief minister of the undivided Madras State and the first one of present-day Tamil Nadu. He is a highly revered figure among the ranks of the two rival parties.

The alliance between the two parties was on the brink of collapse after AIADMK leader D Jayakumar last week said that Annamalai is unfit to be BJP’s state president.

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"BJP is not in alliance with AIADMK. We will decide about the alliance during the elections only. This is not my personal view. This is our party's stand. BJP cadres want an alliance with the AIADMK but Annamalai (TN BJP President K Annamalai) doesn't want an alliance. He always criticises our leaders. He is unfit to be BJP state president," AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said last week.

Reportedly, the AIADMK delegation held a meeting in Delhi on Saturday to discuss the alliance issue with the BJP chief JP Nadda and BJP leader Piyush Goyal.

AIADMK demanded an apology from K Annamalai for his remarks on late chief minister CN Annadurai, or he be replaced with a ‘non-controversial leader’.

History Of BJP-AIADMK’s Uneasy Alliance In Tamil Nadu

In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK allied with the BJP. The alliance bagged 30 out of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.

However, the alliance was short-lived as the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa withdrew support in early 1999 from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government.

Following this, the BJP lost the no-confidence vote by a single vote during the floor test, and the government fell within 13 months of assuming power. Reportedly, the AIADMK was dissatisfied with the BJP as the party refused to take back pending corruption cases against Jayalalithaa.

ALSO READ: AIADMK Says 'No Alliance With BJP' As Fissures Grow Between Old Allies In Tamil Nadu

However, the AIADMK formed an alliance with the Congress in the 1999 general election and the alliance won 13 out of the 39 seats in the state.

Ahead of the 2004 elections, the BJP once again joined hands with the AIADMK. However, the alliance failed to win even a single seat.

In the 2014 elections, the saffron party’s experiment of forming a third front against DMK and AIADMK did not work and the alliance secured only two seats. The BJP tied up with smaller parties including DMDK, PMK, and MDMK in the elections.

After two years, after the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the party faced the worst crisis and witnessed three chief ministers within a year.

Both BJP and AIADMK joined hands for the third time during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, the AIADMK has lost all elections in which it has allied with the BJP, including the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and the Assembly elections in 2021.

Following the decision to snap ties with the BJP, AIADMK has also decided that it will lead a separate front in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.