The Tamil Nadu ruling ADMK party is nearing to possibly get a major relief after the Central ruling BJP had positively nodded for one of the long-term agendas of the state ruling party - getting a berth in the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The development that could relish the state ruling party has come days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Chennai and held meetings with the ADMK leaders and with the Tamil Nadu state BJP. His visit, the first to Tamil Nadu since he became Home Minister, was keenly watched by the state political leaders. 

Amit Shah came with a well-packed agenda of asserting BJP's support to the ADMK and reiterating the alliance for the upcoming polls. The Home Minister had met with the party leaders of the Tamil Nadu BJP and reviewed the party's preparedness for the legislative elections. Amit Shah also had unveiled BJP's goal of becoming the single largest party in the state and to form a government of its own. 

The Home Minister had also met with the ADMK ministers ahead of the assembly polls during which, the reports say, the ADMK leaders had discussed about the agendas of getting into the Central cabinet.   However, Amit Shah didn't give any assurance and left Chennai, by leaving the ADMK leaders to brace up the expectations. 

Three days after his visit, Delhi has now sent a green signal to the ADMK in the cabinet berth. According to our sources, BJP has decided to give a berth for ADMK in the Union Cabinet. The Prime Minister is expected to shuffle his cabinet on December 14 during which there could be a cabinet expansion and ADMK would be given a place in the expansion. 

The sources say that BJP has decided to provide three cabinet berths in the Union Cabinet. The development is seen as a major move by the BJP that would be engineered by Amit Shah after his Chennai visit. However, while it could relish the ADMK leaders, it could also spark fresh tussle within the party on who is going to secure the berth at the Center in the bid to establish a stronghold in Delhi. 

Acquiring a cabinet berth in Modi's cabinet has been one of the agendas brewing between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam in nominating members from their own factions. Panneerselvam's son OP Ravindranath Kumar, who is the only ADMK MP from the state, is one of the lead contenders in the race to the Union Cabinet. When ADMK has only one MP in Lok Sabha, it has eight MPs in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament. 

As the sources said that BJP has decided to offer three tickets to the Union Cabinet, both the leaders of the ADMK have been pushed to face a new trouble and challenge within the party in picking three names from the list of nine ADMK MPs in the Parliament. The sources say that Thambidurai, KP Munusamy, Vaithilingam, Navaneethakrishnan, and Ravindranath Kumar have been on the race. While Panneerselvam mulls to get a ticket for his son, he would be pushed to convince the other senior MPs in nominating his son, who is the first time parliamentarian. 

In what could become the assertion of BJP-ADMK alliance till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, both the ADMK leaders would ought to face more challenges in finalizing the MPs for the Union Cabinet at a high time when the state is just months away from the assembly polls and at a high time when the BJP has demanded more seats in the upcoming legislative elections.