Tensions have surfaced within the BJP in Tamil Nadu over the seat-sharing arrangement in its alliance with the AIADMK, with the party yet to announce candidates for the allotted constituencies. The delay is being attributed to dissatisfaction among both the BJP’s national leadership and the state unit over the final list of seats.
The discontent has spilled into the open, with BJP treasurer S.R. Sekar issuing a statement calling for leaders who can “keep traitors out,” a remark seen as aimed at the party’s state leadership. Party functionaries across regions have also voiced frustration over what they describe as a poor bargain in the allocation.
In the Kongu belt, BJP workers expected to secure two seats in Coimbatore, with speculation that one could be earmarked for former state president K. Annamalai. However, only Coimbatore North was reportedly allotted, triggering protests by supporters of Vasantharajan, who had been campaigning in Kinathukadavu.
Similar expectations in Chennai—where the party hoped for two seats from areas such as T. Nagar, Velachery and Mylapore—also fell short, with only one seat said to have been obtained. Party leaders were also disappointed at not getting any seat in Tiruchirappalli district, and at missing out on Tirupparankundram despite recent large-scale protests by Hindu organisations and a high-profile visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Murugan temple there.
According to party sources cited in the report, state BJP president Nainar Nagendran and Union minister L. Murugan held talks with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami to finalise seats, with internal critics alleging the process favoured personal interests and factional calculations. The report adds that BJP organisation secretary B.L. Santhosh, during a recent Chennai visit, expressed strong anger over the outcome, and that the party is now attempting to seek additional seats in Kongu and Chennai, though it remains unclear whether the AIADMK will concede.
