Supporters confident of Anbumani being accepted as PMK face by NDA in the upcoming Assembly elections

PMK leader Anbumani’s supporters are confident that the AIADMK and BJP would end up recognising him as the “face” of the PMK when elections draw closer in the State even if the leadership tussle with his father and PMK founder S. Ramadoss remains unresolved.

Recently, BJP Tamil Nadu election in-charge, Baijayant Panda, met Dr. Anbumani in Chennai. Earlier, he had a meeting with the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and also called on Dr. Ramadoss while he was admitted in the hospital. While all the meetings were dubbed courtesy calls, Dr. Anbumani’s supporters are of the view that the AIADMK and BJP would eventually recognise him as the PMK’s face.

Sources close to Dr. Anbumani said, Mr. Panda and he have remained “great friends” since being seated close to each other in Parliament after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Officially Dr. Anbumani and Mr. Panda have chosen not to comment over whether alliance negotiations have started between PMK and the AIADMK-headed NDA of which the BJP is a key constituent in Tamil Nadu. But many in the party contend the friendship between the two leaders and the fact that the Election Commission of India has “recognised” the extension of Dr. Anbumani’s tenure as PMK president until August 2026 already points to the scales tilted in favour of him.

K. Balu, spokesperson of the Anbumani-led PMK, said the party has consolidated behind Dr. Anbumani despite his father remaining an icon of the Vanniyar community.

“Almost 95% of the office bearers who were holding important positions before the differences within the family came to the fore, have remained with Dr. Anbumani. Three out of five MLAs are with Dr. Anbumani. He has the power to sign the Form A and Form B of the candidates. ECI also has recognised the extension of tenure of Dr. Anbumani as president by the general council...so, we have no doubt that Dr. Anbumani would be identified as the leader of the PMK by the National Democratic Alliance for the 2026 State Assembly elections,” he said.

Sources close to senior Ramadoss, who has shown no intention to climb down and reconcile with his son, said, “We are fully focussed on party activities and Ayya (Ramadoss) would make an announcement about the alliance only on December 30 when the general body would be held. He has not indicated anything about the alliance to anyone,” said a close confidant. He insisted that the meeting between Dr. Anbumani and Mr. Panda was not about the alliance at all. Furthermore, the PMK would only negotiate with the AIADMK, the alliance leader.

With VCK continuing to strongly oppose any attempt by the DMK to rope in the PMK, sources in Dr. Ramadoss’ camp also reject speculation that the DMK leaders had reached out to him exploring an alliance. Dr. Anbumani’s supporters reiterate that the voters view him as the future of the PMK. 

Meanwhile, a senior leader in the Tamil Nadu BJP, when contacted, said the NDA would prefer the father and son to resolve their differences before the Assembly elections. He believed the PMK would ultimately be a part of the alliance and would be headed by a leader, who would be in a position to legally take a call over selection of candidates with the senior NDA partner, AIADMK.