Nagendran slams DMK govt, says BJP-AIADMK alliance will end exploitative rule
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Chennai: Nainar Nagendran, the newly appointed BJP Tamil Nadu President, has expressed confidence that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will remove the ruling DMK from power in the 2026 state Assembly elections.
In a post on X on Sunday, Nagendran responded to critics who described the BJP-AIADMK alliance as “incompatible”, stating, “This alliance is indeed incompatible — but only for the DMK. It is this alliance that will bring an end to the exploitative regime of @mkstalin, which has burdened the people of Tamil Nadu. This alliance will uproot a government that has appointed those who disrespected the dignity of Tamil Nadu’s women as ministers.”
He added, “Don’t panic, Mr Stalin. You still have one year left in office. But no one can change the verdict the people are going to deliver.”
Nagendran made these remarks a day after his formal election as the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit president on Saturday. The announcement took place during a party meeting in Chennai, where Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh officially declared him elected.
Outgoing president K. Annamalai, in his address, stated that the party’s goal was clear – to “dislodge the evil shakti” of the DMK and return good governance to the state.
Referring to the BJP’s renewed alliance with the AIADMK, Annamalai said, “The path is now clear, and the choice of Nagendran was unanimous.”
Nagendran’s rise comes at a pivotal moment as the BJP and AIADMK strengthen ties ahead of the 2026 elections.
A veteran politician, the 64-year-old began his journey with the AIADMK, winning his first Tamil Nadu Assembly seat from Tirunelveli in 2001. He served as minister for transport, industries, and electricity in Jayalalithaa’s government from 2001 to 2006.
Despite being re-elected in 2011, he was excluded from the Cabinet and narrowly lost the Tirunelveli seat in both 2006 and 2016. After Jayalalithaa’s passing in 2016, Nagendran joined the BJP, reclaiming the Tirunelveli seat in the 2021 Assembly elections and becoming the BJP Legislature Party Leader in Tamil Nadu. He also contested Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and 2024 but faced defeats in both attempts.
(inputs from IANS)
