Chennai, Sept. 5 -- With the return of the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS)-led All India Anna Dravidar Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and a change of leadership in the state BJP, the ruling alliance at the Centre has lost a key partner in the South, as TTV Dhinakaran walked out of the NDA on Wednesday following in the footsteps of O Panneerselvam (OPS) who left on July 31. The timing of the exits is being seen as a blow for the BJP, which is eyeing electoral inroads in the state in next year's assembly elections.

On a day when Union home minister Amit Shah met BJP leaders from election-bound states in Delhi, on Wednesday, Dhinakaran announced that his party, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), was leavi...