Tamil Nadu CM Stalin calls AIADMK 'old bonded slave camp' for tie-up with BJP despite differences

Launching a scathing attack on the newly announced alliance between the AIADMK and the BJP for the 2026 assembly election, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Saturday called the tie-up a partnership which is “doomed to fail”, driven by "hunger for power" and devoid of ideological foundations.

Nearly two years after parting ways, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday joined hands again, with Amit Shah declaring that the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election will be fought under the leadership of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Shah also slammed the ruling DMK for 'diverting' attention from key issues by raking up matters like delimitation, NEET and the 3-language policy.

Stalin calls AIADMK 'old bonded slave camp'

CM Stalin asserted that the coalition, announced on Friday, stands against the interests and rights of Tamil Nadu and is destined to fail.

Stalin alleged in a statement that the BJP leadership has a calculated plan to eradicate Tamil through Hindi imposition, to block Tamil people’s progress through various conspiracies, and to undermine Tamil Nadu’s rights through constituency delimitation.

The AIADMK, "an old bonded slave camp," which has long surrendered itself, is being coerced by threats by the BJP to implement these conspiracies, news agency PTI quoted CM Stalin's statement.

Stalin further said: “Whether the BJP comes alone or with partners, the people of Tamil Nadu are ready to deliver a fitting lesson. To the traitorous alliance that kneels in Delhi without self-respect and tries to pawn Tamil Nadu, the people will give the right response.”

Responding to Union home minister Amit Shah’s announcement of the alliance on Friday, Stalin questioned the basis of the tie-up, pointing out contradictions in AIADMK’s stated positions on key issues like NEET, Hindi imposition, the three-language policy, the Waqf Act, and delimitation. He noted that Shah did not address these topics nor allowed the AIADMK leadership to do so, instead using the platform to target the DMK and its government.

"The AIADMK-BJP alliance is doomed to fail. It was the people of Tamil Nadu who handed repeated defeats to this coalition. Now, Shah has reconstituted the same failed alliance," Stalin said, adding that Amit Shah failed to state on what ideological foundation the alliance was formed. Instead, he merely “assured that a Common Minimum Programme would be worked out.”

The DMK chief framed the BJP-AIADMK partnership as fundamentally opposed to Dravidian ideals such as linguistic rights, cultural identity, and state autonomy. He accused former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami of compromising the state’s dignity to remain in power and alleged that corruption forms the core of the alliance.