AIADMK asserts NDA leadership in TN; EPS to seal 2026 alliances

Asserting that the AIADMK is the leader of the NDA in Tamil Nadu, the party's General Council on Wednesday empowered General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) to determine the alliance partners for expanding the coalition with the sole aim of dethroning the ruling DMK in the 2026 Assembly election.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

A resolution was passed at the General Council meeting, attended by over 4,000 functionaries at Vanagaram on the outskirts of Chennai, which also formally endorsed the AIADMK's return to the NDA in order to defeat the "common enemy" ~ the ruling DMK, which it alleged was steeped in "scientific corruption" beginning from CM Stalin's family onward.

Vesting EPS with absolute authority to decide who should be admitted into the NDA is seen as a sign of flexibility in accommodating former Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam (OPS), who heads the splinter group AIADMK Workers' Rights Retrieval Committee, and T.T.V. Dhinakaran of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), another breakaway outfit.