For Edappadi Palanswami, the CM candidacy has become the sharp-edged knife that he needs to make sure to escape the tilth from both sides to survive the battle to enjoy the reign as the Chief Minister and as the successor of Jayalalithaa. And, for BJP, which is in the ADMK alliance, the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly poll is crucial and amid having no single representative in the current assembly, the BJP mulls to pump in its formula of forming an allied government with ministerial berths in the state cabinet. 

The state would be going for the assembly polls, which would be the first state election since the demise of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa and the demise of these two political giants had birthed the unprecedented intra and inter allegations within and between the parties in their bid to shape themselves as the replacement for departed leaders. This would be the first state election for Edappadi Palaniswami as the Chief Minister and first for MK Stalin as the DMK President. 

Though the state has a history of witnessing the national parties getting allied with the state parties and contesting in coalition for the elections, the state had never, in recent times, witnessed the shared power in the rule and in the cabinet. The state party either DMK or ADMK would fully hold the Chief Ministerialship and the cabinet though they had contested the polls in alliance with the national parties.  While the Dravidian parties settled for the rule, the allied parties would get settled for the seats in the assembly that were allotted by the Dravidian parties. 

Single party rule was the political culture in Tamil Nadu and amid staunch rivalry between both of them, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa had never compromised and stood united when it comes to the rule and they had never let the allied parties occupy the power and the cabinet berths. That culture was intact till the demise of both the leaders and they departed by leaving a stern vacuum of leadership for which the current leaders, both Edappadi Palaniswami and Stalin have been boxing to become the face of the state. 

While they both are racing to take over the reign, a new contender is in their sight as the Central ruling BJP sees it as a perfect time to establish the party's base in the state with having no single representative in the state assembly. The Central ruling party is determined not to miss the current prospect in Tamil Nadu as it is the only state for BJP where it finds adversity in establishing its base. Within three years of the death of Jayalalithaa, the BJP had found a new companion in the state to back on - alliance with the ruling ADMK. 

The BJP had formed an alliance with the ADMK in 2019 and they both contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls only to witness a huge defeat as the voters hadn't given a single parliamentary seat to BJP while ADMK managed to get one. However, two years after the debacle, BJP is now directing a fresh revolt in the alliance as the Central ruling party is perfectly using the weakening leadership in the state and it has birthed the idea of claiming the CM candidacy and mulls to fuel it amid the alliance with the ADMK, which recently announced Edappadi Palaniswami as the CM candidate. 

Edappadi Palaniswami has already faced the intra-party dispute over the race for CM candidate as he and his predecessor Panneerselvam had tussled each other in becoming the CM candidate of the party. The war of words between the leaders of the factions had brought the behind the screen dispute of the leaders to light. After the episodes of hectic talks and parleys carried out by the senior ministers and leaders, Panneerselvam has agreed to name Edappadi Palanswami as the CM candidate in exchange for a demand of setting up the party's steering committee. 

Edappadi Palanswami has succeeded in the intra-party dispute after he had made Panneerselvam announce him as the CM candidate and while Edappadi Palaniswami has been campaigning for the upcoming polls to retain the reign, the BJP has thrown a bombshell against Edappadi Palaniswami by stating that the Central ruling party will announce the CM candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in which ADMK is a part. In a first of kind announcement in the state, the alliance would be having two CM candidates, which had stirred controversy and perplexed the voters and it has signaled that the CM race has now become ADMK vs BJP from Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam.

While Edappadi Palaniswami has been announced as the CM candidate for ADMK - BJP alliance and when the state party would normally lead the alliance in the state elections, the BJP has claimed that Edappadi Palaniswami is the CM candidate for the ADMK, not for the alliance and stated that the Central leadership of BJP would announce the CM candidate of the alliance and the clash between the ADMK and BJP over the CM candidacy had sparked the war of words between the leaders of both the parties. Last week, Tamil Nadu BJP President L Murugan said that BJP National high command will announce the Chief Ministerial candidate for the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu. 

In what has become the latest friction, his statement was fueled by the BJP leaders and shocked the ADMK - particularly Edappadi Palaniswami as he would be witnessing another hurdle to hold the CM candidacy. On Friday, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar, who came to Chennai, didn't answer the repeated questions from the reporters on the Chief Ministerial candidate of the NDA in the state. According to reports, the BJP's claim of announcing the CM candidate shows that the party is not happy to endorse Edappadi Palaniswami as the CM candidate of the NDA and the revolt had signaled that the ADMK-BJP alliance could come to an end ahead of the assembly polls. 

Speaking to reporters, BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan also said that the BJP will announce the CM candidate and responding to the alliance, Vanathi Srinivasan said that anything can happen in politics. The reports say that no BJP leaders had publicly announced that they would endorse Edappadi Palaniswami for the CM candidate which had shocked him and he further endured more shock after ADMK Minister Sellur Raju had on Saturday said that since the BJP is the national party, it will announce the CM candidate. Sellur Raju was one of the main reasons behind the CM dispute in the ADMK and by backing BJP on announcing the CM candidate, his statement had stirred controversy. With the lack of strong leadership for the ADMK and with the lack of a strong base in the state for the BJP, both the parties are hoping to sail through the political storm in the weakening ship.