CHENNAI: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will hold a leadership meeting in Chennai on Monday evening to decide on the future of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu.
The meeting comes amid a strain in ties between the two parties, following comments made by BJP state president K Annamalai against Dravidian icon and former Chief Minister Anna Durai.
A section of AIADMK wants the alliance to be ended following the โinsultingโ comments made by the state BJP chief where he stated that the former chief minister CN Annadurai insulted Hinduism during an event in Madurai in 1956. He said Annadurai had to hide in Madurai after his remark and could only travel after he issued an apology.
In response, AIADMK leaders accused Annamalai of โdeliberately insultingโ the Dravidian stalwart.
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This comes amid the row over the remarks made by DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on โSanatana Dharmaโ and the public outrage that followed and when the Supreme Court issued a notice to Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Senior AIADMK leaders have conveyed their anguish and protest to the BJP leadership when a team of leaders met home minister Amit Shah on September 23.
As per top sources within the BJP, there was no headway regarding the seat-sharing formula between the two parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
โThe AIADMK is firm on its stance. As of now, there is no alliance with the BJP in the state of Tamil Naduโ, D Jayakumar, AIADMK spokesperson, told The New Indian.
When contacted, a senior BJP leader in Tamil Nadu said that talks are progressing between the two parties, but refused to speak on the seat-sharing pact.
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The AIADMK in alliance with the BJP won one seat in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while the saffron party bagged four seats in the 2021 assembly election.
