As we reported earlier today- January 31, the Tamil Nadu BJP unit has announced that it will break ties with the ADMK in the upcoming urban local body polls. In a press conference held on Monday amid political chaos, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai has announced that the party will contest the urban local polls independently. 

His announcement has come at a high time when the political parties are gearing up for the polls that will be held on February 19 and the last date of filing nomination would be on February 4. Speaking at the press conference, Annamalai said, "We have taken an important decision after talks with the ADMK. We will be contesting the upcoming local body polls independently. BJP will contest in all seats across Tamil Nadu and we are going to field the candidates for every seat." 

He further said, "As BJP wishes to contest over 10% of seats in the local body polls, we have decided to contest independently. We have clearly spoken with my dear ADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi Palaniswami. ADMK -BJP alliance will continue at the national level as the National Democratic Alliance. Contesting independently is not a tough decision. We have heard the demands of our cadres." 

"Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam have led the ADMK in difficult times. As we are contesting independently, it doesn't mean that we are breaking ties completely with the ADMK", Annamalai added as his announcement has spurred a major political debate over what's next on the ADMK's court. The state BJP President further claimed that the BJP has a strong case in Tamil Nadu and it can contest independently. 

The assumption of the break-up between BJP and ADMK in the urban local polls had done rounds on social media before Annamalai had made it official. The grip of ties began to falter when the talks between both the parties on seat-sharing had ended with no consensus. Last Saturday, after the first round of talks, the BJP has pressed that it is ready to contest independently if ADMK fails to provide what it has demanded. 

By acknowledging that the ADMK is functioning effectively as the opposition party, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai has said that the BJP is in a strong posture in the local bodies across the state and the party had contested independently in 2011. It was believed that Annamalai's speech is a strong indicator that the BJP is ready to contest independently by breaking the ties with the ADMK in the urban local body polls. In line with that, he has now announced a breaker and he is all set to sail the party independently against strong anti-BJP waves.

What has sparked the debate over the split-up was ADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswami's rush for his hometown. While it was reported that the parties have planned to resume talks to seal a deal on Monday at the ADMK headquarters in Chennai, Palaniswami has left Chennai for his hometown to Salem. The talks didn't hold on Monday and after discussions with the BJP leaders, Annamalai has announced that the party is breaking ties with the ADMK for the urban local body polls. 

BJP and ADMK have been observing the alliance since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and had contested together in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls and rural local body polls. BJP's exit has given a huge blow for ADMK as the party has already faced such wallop during the rural local body polls while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) exited the alliance and contested independently, only to add more disappointments. With the exit of the BJP and with unsure PMK, the ADMK is going to contest the polls with smaller parties like GK Vasan's Tamil Maanila Congress. 

The urban local body polls will be held on February 19 and the votes will be counted on February 22nd. The last date of filing nominations would be February 4 and the polls will be electing 12,820 posts and they include - 21 mayors, 138 chairmen for municipalities, 490 town panchayats. The polls will also be electing 1,064 councillors for municipal corporations, 3,468 councillors for municipalities, and 8,288 councillors for town panchayats.

Must-read: Big political chaos in TN: Is BJP divorcing its ties with the ADMK?