Has Annamalai been removed as Tamil Nadu BJP chief for AIADMK deal? Amit Shah responds

When asked about whether AIADMK's E Palaniswamy did not want the alliance until Annamalai's removal, Shah said, "It's not true at all. Annamalai is still the state president, that is why he is sitting with me."

Tamil Nadu's two opposition parties, AIADMK and the BJP, came together to contest the 2026 state elections under the leadership of former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), Shah said at a joint press conference in Chennai on Friday.

"We will make a common minimum programme if needed," Shah, along with EPS and state BJP chief K Annamalai, told reporters.

The Home Minister recalled the massive win in the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 when the BJP and AIADMK were in an alliance helmed by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The BJP-AIADMK alliance at one point won 30 of 39 Lok Sabha seats, he said.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will comfortably win in Tamil Nadu, Shah asserted.

Speaking about how the alliance will work, Shah assured the BJP will not interfere in AIADMK's internal matters.

Asked about the finer details of the alliance, Shah requested people to allow the BJP to handle some matters on its own and not overburden the AIADMK.

"Let us also do some work. Don't worry about everything. Leave some worries for us to handle, too," he said.

The announcement came after the BJP announced the nomination of Nainar Nagenthiran as the party's Tamil Nadu chief to replace K Annamalai.

Shah thanked Annamalai for his "unprecedented contributions" to the party. The BJP will utilise the young leader's organisational skills in the party's national framework, he said.

The BJP said the alliance announcement has no link with the decision to replace Annamalai, as the decision to fight the election in a tie-up with the AIADMK was already taken.

As per a report by The Indian Express, Annamalai will be removed to balance the caste equations in the BJP-AIADMK alliance, which is looking to take on the ruling DMK-Congress combine in the assembly elections due to be held next year.