India, Jan. 22 -- The return of TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), a breakaway of the AIADMK, to the NDA ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Chennai today will aid the alliance in at least two ways.

One, it helps the NDA to project itself as the main Opposition alliance in the state ahead of the assembly elections. The 2024 general election turned out to be a walkover for the DMK-led INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, mainly because the Opposition votes were fragmented, with the AIADMK floating a coalition of its own after refusing to align with the NDA. The INDIA bloc swept the polls, winning all 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state with 46.9% votes; the AIADMK-bloc and NDA drew a blank despite logging vote shares o...