Overview

• State BJP chief Nainar Nagendran kicked off a Madurai-to-districts outreach and said the NDA would form the next Tamil Nadu government with Edappadi K. Palaniswami as chief minister.
• Senior BJP leaders L. Murugan and K. Annamalai joined AIADMK figures R.P. Udayakumar and Sellur Raju at the launch, which parties cast as a show of a strengthened BJP–AIADMK alignment.
• EPS said the DMK-led bloc shows strain, citing allies such as the Congress pressing for more seats and roles ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
• Palaniswami rejected reports of alliance talks with Vijay, saying TVK cadres attended AIADMK rallies by choice, while AMMK’s T.T.V. Dhinakaran called the TVK flags proof of EPS’s ‘desperation’ and argued a tie-up was unlikely under EPS’s leadership.
• The Karur rally stampede that killed 41 and injured over 50 continues to shape the fight, with BJP leaders blaming the police and the chief minister and Dhinakaran defending the state’s plea opposing a CBI probe to protect police morale.