Palaniswami strains every nerve for the AIADMK to bounce back in Lok Sabha polls
Lok Sabha polls 2024 is a litmus test for AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party's electoral performance will have a considerable bearing in improving the fortunes of the outfit two years later when the state will go for Assembly polls. When Palaniswami, who expelled his former colleague and ex-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam from the party in 2022, it was the beginning of several other steps that followed to cement his position as the undisputed party chief and partly to prepare the AIADMK for the 2026 Assembly election.
By snapping ties with the BJP in September last year, the AIADMK expected at least a couple of DMK's allies including the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi to join the alliance led by it.
However, that did not materialise and Palaniswami who often spoke of a «mega alliance» for the LS polls could only cobble up an alliance with Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founded by the late actor-politician 'Captain' Vijayakanth and a couple of smaller outfits.
To the dismay of the AIADMK, the PMK, which fought alongside the AIADMK in 2021 Assembly polls joined hands with the BJP. Former legislator, M Thamimun Ansari-led Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi, has extended support to the DMK front, though it was expected that MJK would support Palaniswami's party as it had severed ties with the Saffron party.
Now, the AIADMK chief has changed his refrain from mega alliance to people's power by asserting that DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin is dependent on his allies whereas his party faced the
