Palaniswami made every possible effort for the return of AIADMK in the Lok Sabha elections

This will have a great impact in improving the fortunes of the organization when assembly elections will be held in the state after two years.

When Palaniswami expelled his former ally and former chief minister O Panneerselvam from the party in 2022, it was part of several other steps to consolidate his position as the undisputed party chief and partly to prepare the AIADMK for the 2026 assembly. It was the beginning of. Election.
Having broken ties with the BJP in September last year, the AIADMK was hopeful that at least some of its DMK allies, including Viduthalai Chiruthigal Katchi, would join the alliance led by it.

However, that did not happen and Palaniswami, who often talked about a “mega alliance” for the Lok Sabha elections, could only tie up with the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, founded by late actor-politician ‘Captain’ Vijayakanth, and a few smaller organisations.
To the dismay of the AIADMK, the PMK, which had fought alongside the AIADMK in the 2021 assembly elections, joined hands with the BJP. The Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi, led by former MLA, M Thamimun Ansari, has extended support to the DMK front, although the MJK was expected to support Palaniswami’s party as it has broken ties with the saffron party.

Now, the AIADMK chief has moved away from the mega alliance towards people power, saying that DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin is dependent on his allies while his party has won the elections with the support of the people and the strength provided to the party. Faced. “Victory is possible only with the strength (support) of the people and it is in our favor,” EPS said in one of its election rallies.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election is the first important election for the Palaniswami-led AIADMK after the ouster of Panneerselvam and its separation from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Although AIADMK lost in the 2021 assembly elections after being in power for a decade, AIADMK with allies including PMK and BJP won an impressive 75 seats out of total 234 assembly seats.
Palaniswami, popularly known as EPS, has sincerely taken up the task of proving that he is the true successor of party icon MG Ramachandran and ‘Amma’ J Jayalalitha.
EPS, arguably the only star campaigner of the AIADMK, will have to win a good number of seats for his party in the parliamentary elections to boost its political graph. It is no surprise that Palaniswami faces a real test in the form of the Lok Sabha elections.

Electoral success will help cement the image of an undisputed leader, and validate decisions like ousting OPS and saying goodbye to the BJP. Besides, this will also help a lot in formulating a new strategy to wrest power from DMK.
However, it appears to be an uphill battle in the face of the electoral strength of the DMK, which is supported by its allies.
Starting from the April 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK has won every election in Tamil Nadu, including civic polls. The exception to this were the by-elections held on two assembly seats in October 2019, in which the DMK front was defeated by the then ruling party AIADMK.
The AIADMK now also has to face the BJP, which is led by its rising leader K Annamalai. The saffron party is expected to give a real fight in many areas of the western region apart from Karur, where 54 candidates are contesting, the highest in the state. Karur is Annamalai’s home constituency, although he is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Coimbatore, the center in western Tamil Nadu.
To beat the odds, Palaniswami is trying his best by targeting the DMK alliance on all key issues in the state, including the recent arrest of Jafar Sadiq, an alleged kingpin of an international drug cartel, who has been expelled from the ruling party. It was done and there has been a huge increase in it. property taxes.
On the Cauvery issue, the EPS is apparently asking why Stalin could not “bring Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu” despite India being in the alliance, as the Congress party, the major constituent of the bloc, is leading Karnataka. Palaniswami describes himself as a farmer who understands the problems of the ryots.
However, EPS has not been very vocal in criticizing the Center and has restricted itself to select topics like national parties, be it Congress or BJP, saying they have no interest in protecting the interests of Tamil Nadu and the Cauvery issue. No worries.
As if to compensate, second-rate AIADMK leaders like C Ve Shanmugam however become adamant when it comes to the BJP and its state chief Annamalai.
Though Chief Minister Stalin had a few days ago mocked the AIADMK for not being able to specify who should rule the country and who should not, an astute Palaniswami had much earlier in January