Chennai

The Opposition AIADMK on Friday commenced the process of interviewing party's ticket aspirants for the upcoming Assembly election in Tamil Nadu.

Even as the party is engaged in negotiating seat-sharing with its major ally, the BJP, the AIADMK is gearing up to short-list its candidates, indicating its poll preparedness. The principal opposition party had already finalised the seats with another ally, the PMK, but said it would make the announcement later.

It is hoping to rope in a few more parties that are opposed to the ruling DMK. After meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital on January 7, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said talks were on with a few parties and he did not rule out chances of T T V Dhinakaran-led AMMK coming back to NDA fold.

Palaniswami interviewed the party aspirants from Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tirupur, Namakkal, Salem, Erode and Dindigul districts, who had sought tickets to contest on behalf of the AIADMK in the Assembly election.

Party's Deputy General Secretary K P Munusamy and Treasurer Dindigul Srinivasan were also present.

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The interview session will continue for the remaining districts on January 10, 12 and 13.

The AIADMK received a total of 10,175 applications from party members seeking tickets to contest the 2026 elections in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala. Among them, 2,187 had expressed the desire for the General Secretary Palaniswami to contest from their respective constituencies.