AIADMK, BJP join hands for 2026 TN polls: EPS to lead charge, says Amit Shah
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Chennai (PTI): The BJP and AIADMK on Friday sealed a poll alliance, with Union Minister Amit Shah declaring that the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election will be fought under the leadership of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
With the parties rekindling their alliance nearly two years after they parted ways, Shah said it will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership at the Centre and Palaniswami at the state level.
"AIADMK and BJP have decided to fight next (year's) polls...from 1998, AIADMK has been part of BJP alliance (at different points of time). PM Modi and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had worked for Centre-state ties," Shah told a press conference, flanked by Palaniswami and outgoing BJP TN chief K Annamalai, here.
"We will form a government together led by Edappadi Palaniswami," he said, indicating it would be a coalition government should the NDA win.
He exuded confidence that the NDA will get a solid mandate and form a government.
On AIADMK's divergent stand on certain issues, Shah said will sit and discuss. There will be a Common Minimum Programme if required.
He also slammed the ruling DMK in the state, alleging it was raking up issues like Sanatan Dharma, 3-language policy and delimitation with the sole intention to take attention away from key issues.
People were demanding answers from the ruling dispensation over a number of 'scams,' and they would vote on genuine issues, Shah said.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
