The opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam appeared headed for a major split on Tuesday after a group of rebel MLAs revolted against party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami and announced support for the Vijay-led government ahead of the crucial floor test scheduled for Wednesday.
Around 30 MLAs, led by senior AIADMK leaders S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam, are believed to be part of the rebel camp questioning Palaniswami’s leadership following the party’s poor performance in the April 23 Assembly elections, where it won only 47 of the 164 seats it contested.
Speaking to reporters, Shanmugam said the rebel MLAs would meet C Joseph Vijay and hand over a letter extending support to the TVK government. He alleged that Palaniswami was attempting to form a government with the support of archrival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Shanmugam said the AIADMK was founded to oppose and “uproot” the DMK, and claimed that party members strongly opposed any proposal to seek support from the M K Stalin-led party.
“The party needs a new life now. Amma rule should return, and therefore we should support TVK,” he said, invoking the legacy of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
The AIADMK leadership, however, dismissed the allegations as rumours and accused the dissident leaders of spreading falsehoods after failing to deliver victories in their own districts.
In a post on X, the party alleged that Velumani, Shanmugam and former minister C Vijayabaskar were themselves lobbying for ministerial positions in the TVK government. It also asserted that alliance decisions could not be taken by a small group of MLAs and maintained that party cadre continued to stand firmly behind Palaniswami.
The political turmoil has revived memories of the internal power struggles that rocked the AIADMK after the deaths of party founder M G Ramachandran in 1987 and Jayalalithaa in 2016.
The DMK also rejected claims of post-poll alliance discussions with the AIADMK. DMK organising secretary R S Bharati accused Shanmugam of attempting to engineer a split within his own party through baseless allegations.
Bharati said Stalin had already made it clear that the DMK would function as the opposition and dismissed reports of any understanding between the two Dravidian rivals as speculation.
Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leaders urged Palaniswami to convene a general council meeting to review the reasons behind the party’s electoral setback and chalk out a roadmap for revival.
The AIADMK’s official social media handle defended Palaniswami, stating that the over 1.34 crore votes received by the party reflected support for the AIADMK, its alliance, the “Two Leaves” symbol and “the people’s chief minister Edappadiar”.
Adding another twist to the unfolding political drama, Thol Thirumavalavan claimed that both the DMK and AIADMK had approached him to become chief minister as part of a possible alliance aimed at keeping TVK out of power.
“I received information that they had decided to make me chief minister. But after consulting senior party leaders, we rejected it,” Thirumavalavan told reporters.
