Tamil Nadu’s Nitish Kumar or assertive chief? Edappadi Palaniswami confronts a battle of perceptions
If political discourse is not opposed, the balance in the elections may be disrupted. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami seems more conscious of this than anyone else in his constituency in Tamil Nadu this election season.
Since his reluctant return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last April at the behest of the BJP’s chief poll strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Palaniswami has come under attack from his rivals, especially the ruling DMK and its allies.
Over the past few years, the DMK camp has built a strong political narrative that sees the AIADMK leadership subservient to the BJP and the Union government led by Narendra Modi.
This perception was bolstered by the decision of the erstwhile AIADMK government under both O. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami to adopt some Central schemes that their predecessor Jayalalithaa had vehemently opposed during her lifetime. This included the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), which Tamil Nadu joined in January 2017, just a month after his death.
The survey is framed as Tamil Nadu-Delhi
Recently, this narrative has gained further momentum after Mr Modi and Mr Shah repeatedly refrained from endorsing Mr Palaniswami as the Chief Ministerial face of the NDA in the upcoming Assembly elections. Instead, the two leaders openly advocated an NDA government comprising the AIADMK-led BJP in Tamil Nadu.
It is against this backdrop that DMK chief and Chief Minister MK Stalin is trying to frame these Assembly elections as a Tamil Nadu versus New Delhi contest.
Some leaders, including Congress MP B. Manickam Tagore and State Transport Minister SS Sivasankar, have warned that Mr. Palaniswami could potentially become the Nitish Kumar of Tamil Nadu. What they imply is that the BJP may at some point force him to resign as Chief Minister, like Mr. Kumar, who offered to resign as Bihar Chief Minister.
Critics also point to developments in Maharashtra, where divisions within the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party are believed to be encouraged by the BJP.
‘submissive behavior’
Mr. Stalin called Mr. Palaniswami “my name is sasanam (slavery contract)” to the Union Government.
Some of Mr. Palaniswami’s actions and developments under the NDA in Tamil Nadu have lent weight to such criticism. For example, the AIADMK leader traveled to New Delhi twice to meet Mr. Shah to discuss the contours of the electoral alliance. This is a reversal of the typical process where leaders of national parties with limited influence in the Dravidian State visit Tamil Nadu to negotiate alliances with dominant regional players.
Also, some allies like TTV Dhinakaran of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam have tried to sideline the AIADMK completely, saying they will deal directly with the BJP on seat-sharing arrangements.
push back
However, in the wake of these developments, it seems that Mr. Palaniswami has taken a calibrated counter stance against this perception. This week, he surprised many by getting NDA leaders, including Piyush Goyal (BJP), R. Anbumani (PMK) and Mr. Dhinakaran, to visit the AIADMK headquarters MGR Maaligai in Chennai.
In their presence, Mr. Palaniswami came to the fore and emphasized his authority within the alliance by announcing the number of seats allocated to each party. He also backtracked by stating that DMK leaders like Kanimozhi Karunanidhi had also flown to Delhi to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In a subtle but significant signal, it allotted 27 seats to the BJP; this was one less than the amount DMK had granted to the Congress under pressure. Also, NDA completed the seat-sharing exercise before DMK; The DMK faced a tougher task this time in convincing its allies to accept fewer seats. Going a step further, Mr. Palaniswami has already declared the constituencies from which the allies will contest and released the AIADMK’s first list of 23 candidates. He also continued his campaign by garnering votes for BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan in Chennai’s Mylapore constituency even before his party officially announced its candidates.
More importantly, it gave just one seat to the BJP in the Chennai region despite the party’s improving performance in the region in the last Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, he allocated various constituencies represented by incumbent Ministers to his allies, effectively placing the burden of high-stakes contests on them.
The real test is yet to come
However, Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) leader GK Vasan’s decision to field five candidates on the BJP’s lotus symbol, along with a similar move by another group, has effectively increased the BJP’s tally beyond what has been officially allotted to it.
For those familiar with Mr. Palaniswami’s political trajectory, such maneuvers are not entirely surprising. After all, he was the leader who managed to sideline VK Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s long-time aide, despite her pivotal role in elevating him to the Chief Minister’s post nine years ago. It has also proven itself within the AIADMK, thanks to maneuverable leaders like Mr. Panneerselvam and the veteran KA Sengottaiyan.
His battle is not over yet. His real test will come on May 4 when the votes are counted, and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to resist the BJP’s desire to be a partner in government if his party comes within close range of power.
It was published – 26 March 2026 19:55 IST
