Dalit Intellectual Collective national convenor C Lakshmanan doesn’t mince words while talking about DMK’s likely drubbing in 2026.

“There will be a multi-cornered contest, AIADMK-BJP alliance, DMK alliance, and Actor Vijay’s TVK and other groups. We do not know who is going to join Vijay. There will be a split in the DMK camp, and DMK is going to lose this time," he said.

“Even if all alliance parties are together, the winning chance for DMK is quite remote. Anti-incumbency, high corruption, violence against women, and Dalit will work against DMK. People who are aligned with it will also pay the price. BJP is no more untouchable. It has been accepted by the people,” Lakshmanan added.

A local BJP functionary in Coimbatore sees the alliance as a win-win situation for both parties. “Immediately after the alliance was officially announced, a few AIADMK booth level functionaries called and said now we can work together,” he said.

A senior AIADMK leader from the southern district recalled what happened when the DMK gave the upper hand to Congress in the 1980 Assembly election and shared Assembly seats on a 50:50 ratio, almost okaying a coalition government. The people of Tamil Nadu rejected that alliance.

He also recalled that the AIADMK, with two left parties and Kumari Ananthan’s Gandhi Kamaraj Desya Congress, besides Forward Bloc, captured the power. A victory akin to that is possible in the 2026 elections, given the spiralling hatred against the DMK government, he contended.

However, not everyone in the party is on the same page. Another AIADMK functionary, a former MLA, said the revival of the alliance has been done on EPS’s terms. BJP state president K Annamalai, who remained a thorn in the flesh of the AIADMK cadres, has been removed, and the saffron party has agreed to have a common minimum programme for the alliance. Way back in 1999, when the DMK led by M Karunanidhi aligned with the BJP for the first time, the Dravidian leader had ensured a CMP at the centre.

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