Chennai, JUly 21 (Reporter) Soon after joining the ruling DMK in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin today, former minister Anwar Raajhaa said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would destroy the AIADMK just as it has done with several other regional parties across the country. The AIADMK suffered a major setback ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, as Raajhaa was one of its most prominent Muslim faces and a vocal critic of the party’s alliance with the BJP. Speaking to the media after his formal induction into the DMK, Raajhaa said, “The AIADMK has derailed from its ideological path and is now held hostage by the BJP. Wherever the BJP aligns, its intention is to devour and destroy—as it did with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. The BJP’s agenda is to wipe out the AIADMK and confront the DMK.” Raajhaa, who had been associated with the AIADMK for over five decades, said the BJP’s treatment of the alliance was a key reason for his departure. “In his three interviews, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had not even once mentioned that Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) is Chief Ministerial candidate. He has been reiterating that the NDA will secure the mandate and the BJP would be part of the government. Even EPS could not declare that he is the CM face in the event of AIADMK winning the election. But, like (US President) Trump claiming that he brought about the truce (in the Indo-Pak conflict), the fate of EPS is similar to that and hence he is parroting for the last 10 days that he is the CM nominee,” Raajhaa said, slamming the BJP and EPS. Praising the leadership of the Chief Minister and DMK president, like all newcomers into the party, he said,“Stalin happens to be the only leader who can protect the Dravidian ideology and its cardinal principles like state autonomy and linguistic right of our language.” Stung by Raajhaa’s move to desert the party, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) has expelled him as the party’s Organising Secretary and from the primary membership. Though it was expected, the desertion of the Muslim leader had rattled the AIADMK leadership. Earlier, arriving at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, Raajhaa, was welcomed into the party fold by Stalin, who presented him with a shawl and the DMK membership card. He was disenchanted with the AIADMK’s re-entry into the BJP-led NDA and had openly criticised the decision to align with the saffron party in party fora, concerned about the desertion of the party’s base among the religious minorities. Earlier, he had blamed the loss in the 2021 Assembly poll to the alliance with the BJP. Now, his entry into the DMK will help the party to further consolidate the minorities’ support in the crucial assembly election. A strongman from the southern Ramanathapuram district, he was in the AIADMK when the party was founded by the late matinee icon and Chief Minister MG Ramachandran (MGR), in 1972. MGR had elevated him to the party’s highest policy-making body and along with Jayalaltihaa and both were inducted though not being ministers. In the split after MGR’s demise, he was with the faction led by MGR’s widow VN Janaki but eventually switched over to Jayalalithaa’s side. In the 2021 Assembly election, he was denied the ticket as he was opposed to the alliance with the BJP. Following his interview, praising VK Sasikala, he was axed from the party but rejoined in August last. He is among the last of the few known Muslim faces that the AIADMK had. With the minorities continuing to be captive vote bank of the DMK, Raajhaa’s desertion would be a fatal blow for the AIADMK, particularly in the southern districts where the party’s vote share has gone down, relegating it to third and fourth place in the 2024 Lok Sabha election...////...