"AIADMK has become a greatly diminished party": Congress MP Karti Chidambaram

New Delhi [India], April 11 : Calling AIADMK a "diminished" party after it entered an alliance with the BJP, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Friday said that gone are the days when political parties used to approach Tamil Nadu's opposition party for ties.
Congress MP Chidambaram said that AIADMK broke alliance with the BJP earlier after it realised that ties with them were not turning out to be electorally successful.
"They are independent political parties. They are free to announce and take decisions. AIADMK, at one point of time, was with the BJP. Then they realised that the BJP was a drag which was pulling them down in Tamil Nadu. So, they broke the alliance. They have now come back into the alliance. But the AIADMK is a greatly diminished party today. There were days when people went to the AIADMK to have alliance; it has now changed, and the AIADMK has to come to Delhi to make alliances," Karti Chidambaram told ANI.
Chidambaram, who represents the Sivaganga constituency in the Lok Sabha, said that the people of Tamil Nadu have also rejected the politics of the BJP repeatedly.
"But BJP is not necessarily the most welcome party in Tamil Nadu, their politics is not accepted by the people of Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK realised this earlier, but now they have been forced to have an alliance with them...Edappadi Palaniswami had led the AIADMK formation for 3 elections after he became the CM, and he has lost all 3 elections..." he added.
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together under the National Democratic Alliance. The significant political development comes ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, to be held in 2026.
"AIADMK and BJP leaders have decided that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together as NDA," Shah said.
The BJP is eager to improve its prospects in Tamil Nadu following a determined effort in the last Lok Sabha elections, where it failed to win a seat in the southern state.
In the previous two elections--the Lok Sabha and the last assembly polls--the AIADMK has struggled to perform strongly.
The AIADMK entered into an alliance with the BJP after the passing of J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
During the 2021 state elections, the AIADMK and the BJP were in alliance, which resulted in the BJP winning four seats. However, the AIADMK severed ties with the BJP in 2023.