The AIADMK has had two rounds of talks with the BJP in the last three days, the first being a meeting between BJP leader Amit Shah and AIADMK leaders Edappadi Palanisamy and O Panneerselvam at a hotel in Chennai on Sunday. Later on Monday, the election committees of the two parties met to decide on the numbers of seats BJP will contest from.

In the meeting with Amit Shah and at other informal talks with BJP leaders, according to sources, Chief Minister Edapadi Palanisamy has been steadfast on his stand that Sasikala cannot come back to the AIADMK. The Chief Minister also does not want any ties with TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK.

Sources say that O Panneerselvam who had been the first to rebel against Sasikala as she prepared to become the Chief Minister of the state in February 2017, has thawed his position. OPS is apparently concerned that there would be a split in the votes of the Thevar community if the AIADMK does not accommodate Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran. Both Sasikala and OPS hail from the same community.

BJP leaders have maintained that they will not force the AIADMK to let in AMMK, as this may upset the alliance mathematics. They have however suggested that the AIADMK should consider the possibility of a consolidated alliance if that helps in countering the DMK. The AIADMK already has the PMK on board and is targeting the Vanniyar votebank with the PMK’s presence.

TTV Dhinakaran who has been trying to cobble a small alliance himself changed tack on Tuesday and said, “We will accept anyone who accepts our leadership. Any party that opposes DMK and that does not want DMK to come to power can come to our leadership and we will hold talks with them.” Dhinakaran now seems to be open to an alliance with AIADMK, positioning DMK as his arch enemy.