Annamalai unhappy with AIADMK seat sharing ahead of Tamil Nadu polls

Former BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai has conveyed to the party leadership his extreme displeasure over the seat allocations given by AIADMK for the April 23 Assembly elections. He is learnt to have asked the leadership not to identify any seat for him, stating that he has decided not to contest. He will, however, continue to work as a party karyakarta for all BJP and NDA candidates.

His stance comes as the NDA in Tamil Nadu fine-tunes its seat-sharing arrangements ahead of the polls. Annamalai's decision to step back from contesting signals internal debates within the alliance about how to balance popular support with strategic fielding.

In wider poll-related developments, the Election Commission announced a crackdown on illicit inducements ahead of the elections, reporting seizures totaling ₹408.82 crore, including ₹17.44 crore in cash, ₹37.68 crore in liquor, and ₹167.38 crore in drugs across four states and one union territory.

Tamil Nadu will vote on April 23, 2026. The other states going to the polls include Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry on April 9. In West Bengal, where assembly polls begin in phases, the first phase is on April 23 and the second on April 29, with counting on May 4, 2026. The political narrative in Tamil Nadu features DMK charging AIADMK with being subservient to the Modi government, while BJP leaders have not named Palaniswami as the NDA's chief ministerial candidate, focusing instead on seat-sharing announcements within the alliance.

#TamilNaduElections2026, #AnnamalaiUnhappy, #AIADMKBJPAlliance