Ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Wednesday announced that his party is exiting from the NDA alliance.
Addressing the media, TTV Dhinakaran said, "AMMK is coming out of the NDA Alliance, and we will announce our next course of action by December."
Only two days ago, he had shared his disappointment over the persistent neglect of his party ever since the BJP revived its electoral ties with the AIADMK. Significantly, his decision came on a day when BJP’s key electoral strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had an internal party meeting seeking to mend relations, The Hindu reported.
Speaking to reporters in Tenkasi on Wednesday, he noted that his earlier support for the BJP during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was "unconditional and in the national interest", as he and his party believed Narendra Modi's third term as Prime Minister would benefit the country.
However, he drew a sharp distinction between national and state elections. "The 2026 Assembly elections are different from the Lok Sabha polls. We will announce our alliance decision only in December, taking into account the sentiments of our cadres and office-bearers," he said, NDTV reported.
The AMMK chief also dismissed the idea that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's efforts to bring the AIADMK factions together had succeeded.
Dhinakaran told reporters that AMMK waited for intervention from Amit Shah to bring about a course correction. "We expected his efforts to fetch good results, but nothing happened," Dhinakaran said, in an apparent reference to AIADMK general secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami's resistance to endorse AMMK as an NDA ally and include O Panneerselvam as a constituent of the front, according to a report by The Times of India.
"The attempt to unify AIADMK has failed," he said, while leaving the door open to possible collaborations with other parties, including Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
(With inputs from agencies)
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