The Bharatiya Janata Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections together, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday, reported The Indian Express.

Speaking at a press conference in Chennai alongside AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and outgoing Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, Shah said the two parties would fight the polls as part of the National Democratic Alliance under Palaniswami’s leadership.

“AIADMK and BJP leaders have decided that AIADMK, BJP and all the alliance parties will contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu together as NDA,” Shah said.

He added that the AIADMK did not place any demand or conditions for reviving ties.

Shah added: “…Now this alliance is going to be permanent. It will not have any issues again... The BJP respects and takes pride in Tamil language, culture and people.”

When asked about the possible return of expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary TTV Dhinakaran to the party, Shah said that the BJP would not interfere in the AIADMK’s internal affairs.

Shah on Friday also confirmed that Nainar Nagenthiran will be the BJP’s next Tamil Nadu chief. His was the only nomination that the state BJP received for the post, he added.

Nagenthiran is currently the vice-president of the Tamil Nadu BJP.

This marks a renewed partnership between the BJP and AIADMK, who have had a turbulent alliance history.

The parties first formally aligned ahead of the 2019 general elections, with the AIADMK leading the state-level coalition. They continued their alliance into the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but parted ways in 2023 following disagreements over leadership and seat sharing.