The AIADMK’s announcement of “separation of ties” with the BJP on Monday seems to have added another layer of complexity to the already-strained relationship between the two parties.
The outburst of the AIADMK’s organisation secretary and former Fisheries Minister, D. Jayakumar, was triggered by BJP State unit president K. Annamalai’s remarks on DMK founder and former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai. But, as Mr. Jayakumar pointed out, this was not the only occasion when Mr. Annamalai had “targeted” front-ranking leaders of the Dravidian Movement. He had “belittled” others such as ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy and Jayalalithaa, the former Minister recalled. In June, the BJP leader’s observations on Jayalalithaa had even prompted the AIADMK to adopt a resolution against him. The motion had described him as “politically inexperienced and immature.”
The tenuous equations between the two parties became more pronounced during the innings of Mr. Annamalai. Exactly two months after the AIADMK lost power in the May 2021 Assembly poll, former Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam blamed the BJP for his party’s defeat as the alliance had “alienated” the minorities. But the party’s current general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who was the party co-coordinator back then, and O. Panneerselvam, the coordinator, lost no time in stating that the alliance continued.
