Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 18 : Congress MP Karti Chidambaram alleged that the Opposition party in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, had lost its independence and become "a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BJP".
"AIADMK, a powerful political party and a legacy political party in Tamil Nadu, unfortunately, has lost its independence. It is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BJP," Karti Chidambaram told ANI on Wednesday.
"Even for any small internal problem, they will have to run to Delhi for arbitration. That very clearly shows that they have lost their independence, and the people of Tamil Nadu have lost confidence in them because they don't behave like an independent political party anymore," he added.
On Tuesday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, accompanied by party colleagues, called on Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan for the first time after his election, in New Delhi.
His visit to the national capital comes in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu, in which the AIADMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest in an alliance against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
On Monday, Palaniswami had praised the BJP for extending consistent support to his party, especially after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, while strongly criticising the DMK government for its alleged failures in maintaining law and order in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a public meeting in Chennai to mark the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister CN Annadurai, Palaniswami said that, during the time AIADMK was in power, and even now, those in the Centre (BJP) have never issued any threats.
"But on the contrary, they (BJP) have only done good for us. After the demise of Amma (Jayalalitha), some people tried to usurp the AIADMK party. They even attempted to topple the government. You know very well who safeguarded it (the Central government). It was those in the Centre (BJP) who protected us (AIADMK). It is not right to forget gratitude. In keeping with what Valluvar has said, we remain with gratitude," he said, making it clear that there were no differences with the BJP.
There have been demands within the AIADMK to bring back the leaders who left the party.
On September 5, Gobichettipalayam MLA and former School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan raised the demand and set a 10-day deadline for Palaniswami to initiate the process.
However, the AIADMK general secretary relieved Sengottaiyan from the party posts.
Sengottaiyan's call was supported by former party leaders O Panneerselvam, VK. Sasikala and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam founder TTV Dhinakaran.