South heavyweight AIADMK on Monday severed its four year-old ties with the BJP and walked out of the ruling party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) said that it would lead a separate front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with like-minded parties.

The obvious trigger for the break up is AIADMK’s unhappiness with the BJP’s state president over recent comments but observers believe there may be reasons beyond the ‘Annamalai’ factor behind the decision.

Why AIADMK left BJP-led NDA alliance?

While the AIADMK resolution did not name anyone, it said that the BJP state leadership has recently been defaming Dravidian stalwarts the late CN Annadurai and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, as well as criticising the Tamil Nadu party’s policies.

The Dravidian party has been at odds with BJP state president K Annamalai. The leader’s aggressive politics had set the ally off and his recent comments about former CM Annadurai had created an uproar.

Annamalai had recently claimed that Annadurai had made a critical remark of a belief in the Hindu religion back in 1956 amid the Sanatan Dharma row. While the BJP leader has maintained that he was not speaking ill of the Dravidian stalwart, AIADMK believes he defamed Annadurai.

The party demanded Annamalai’s apology but to no avail. Senior AIADMK leaders met BJP chief J P Nadda in New Delhi to complain about Annamalai's aggressive style of politics and seek his apology or replacement. However, the BJP central leadership backed Annamalai, leading to AIADMK’s decision to break ties.

But there may be more to the parting than the ‘Annamalai factor’.

The Tamil Nadu BJP has been critical of AIADMK’s policies and "belittled" its August 20, 2023 Madurai conference. It wasn’t the first such incident and resentment has been brewing among AIADMK ranks for over a year due to slanderous criticism by the ally. Another factor may be the BJP’s inclination to accommodate former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) in the alliance.

Source : DNA India