Edappadi Palaniswami likely to meet PM Modi in Tiruchi

Chennai, July 24
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tiruchi during the latter’s two-day visit to Tamil Nadu on July 26 and 27.

This would be the first formal meeting between the two leaders since the AIADMK renewed its alliance with the BJP ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to arrive in Tamil Nadu on the evening of July 26 after completing an official visit to the Maldives.

He is expected to land at the Tuticorin airport at 7.50 p.m. and will inaugurate the expanded Tuticorin airport and proceed to Tiruchi for an overnight stay.

On July 27, PM Modi will attend the Aadi Thiruvathirai festival at the historic Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple in Ariyalur district. Following the event, he is scheduled to depart for New Delhi from Tiruchi at 2.25 p.m.

According to sources, Edappadi Palaniswami is expected to meet the Prime Minister either late on July 26 or on the morning of July 27 in Tiruchi.

While AIADMK has not officially confirmed the meeting, the party has rescheduled EPS’s pre-announced campaign events -- originally planned in Karaikudi, Tirupattur, and Sivaganga on July 26 -- to July 29.

The party, in a statement, did not mention the reason for the rescheduling, but political observers believe it is to facilitate the meeting with PM Modi. This meeting gains significance as all alliance negotiations between the AIADMK and BJP had so far been handled primarily by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

EPS and PM Modi had not met directly since the fallout during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when both parties contested separately.

Earlier, Amit Shah had declared that the BJP would be part of the alliance led by AIADMK in the 2026 Assembly polls. However, EPS later countered that the AIADMK would form the government on its own with a clear majority, triggering confusion among the cadre of both parties.

The proposed meeting is also expected to cover other strategic issues, including EPS’s reported request for the Union government to fast-track Central agency investigations against DMK leaders. If confirmed, this would mark the first personal interaction between PM Modi and Palaniswami since the former began his third consecutive term as the Prime Minister.