Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai led the party’s first meeting on Thursday since the AIADMK exited the NDA alliance but showed restraint in speaking about the fallout.

“The 2024 (Lok Sabha) elections will be between DMK and BJP in Tamil Nadu,” Annamalai said.

“I have been saying this for the past two years. Not just today. We will submit our report card... for the last 10 years. The DMK would have completed 35-months of governance in the state. NDA in Tamil Nadu will send several parliamentarians for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2024, the BJP-led NDA will bring a massive change here. It’s an election for our Prime Minister candidate Modi.”

He said that he was neither upset nor happy with AIADMK announcing their decision to break ties on September 25. “We have neither been happy when someone was with us and nor are we upset that they have left,” Annamalai said.

AIADMK had exited the NDA alliance after it accused the state BJP leaders of belittling its icons such as former Chief Ministers C N Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa.

When asked about the allegation against him by the AIADMK leaders when they snapped the alliance with the BJP, he said that he would not respond to the specific charges, adding that which side people of the state are on will be known after the 2024 election.“Several parties criticise me and I cannot respond to that. I don’t wish to respond to this also,” he said.

When asked about the discussions during this meeting, he said, “Why should I tell that to the press? We will tell Tamil Nadu’s people when we need to. How the party will face the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is not something to be debated at a press meet.”

The BJP is yet to react to the split in the AIADMK-BJP alliance. State BJP leaders have been saying that it will be their leaders in Delhi who will speak on it. Annamalai had on Monday met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi but what they discussed is still under wraps.

Thursday’s meeting is a routine gathering which happens every three months, said state BJP vice president Karu Nagarajan. “But, it is happening under an unusual circumstance but only our national leadership will speak on the alliance,” Nagarajan said.

Meanwhile, the next leg of Annamalai’s padyatra, ‘En Mann En Makkal’ (my soil, my people) which was scheduled to begin on October 6, has been postponed to October 16 due to his ill health. The party shared a medical bulletin from a private hospital Gleneagles Global Health City in Chennai which stated that Annamalai was diagnosed with a lower respiratory tract infection with bronchospasm. He had been advised bed rest for two weeks.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami on Wednesday clarified that there was no pressure from anyone to leave the BJP-led NDA in the state.

“We are strong with our decision to break ties with the BJP. No one put any pressure on us to take this decision. A few incidents hurt our cadres,” Edappadi Palaniswami said while speaking to reporters in Salem.

Palaniswami further said, “From Prime Minister Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda, no one put any pressure on us and we decided to break the ties with BJP respecting our cadres voice.

On September 18, AIADMK’s organising secretary D Jayakumar had announced that the party was calling off its alliance with the BJP — leaving to be seen the impact of the split on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The breakdown of ties, however, is not likely to immediately impact the state as assembly elections will be held in 2026

Last month, Congress MP S Thirunavukarasu said the strain in ties between the AIADMK and BJP will help the INDIA bloc. “This split is good for us,” said Thirunavukarasu.

“The question is if it was the central leadership of the BJP that has conveyed to Annamalai to criticise their own ally. This could be a pressure tactic to create problems and use another group of people to solve the created problem. Such things are common before elections.