AIADMK faces split, 30 MLAs back Vijay ahead of floor test

The AIADMK appeared headed for a split on Tuesday after a group of MLAs revolted against party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, accusing him of seeking an alliance with archrival DMK, and announced support for the Vijay-led government ahead of the floor test on Wednesday.

About 30 MLAs, led by senior leaders SP Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam, are believed to be in the rebel camp that has questioned Palaniswami’s leadership following the party’s debacle in the April 23 assembly polls, where it won only 47 out of the 164 seats it contested.

Speaking to reporters, Shanmugam said they would meet C Joseph Vijay to provide a letter supporting his government. He also alleged that party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami wanted to form a government with the DMK’s support. Pointing out that the AIADMK was floated to oppose and “uproot” the DMK, Shanmugam said all party members opposed Palaniswami’s proposal to form a government with the support of the MK Stalin-led party. He added that any such proposal contradicted the AIADMK’s fundamental principles. The party needs a “new life now”, and the “Amma (Jayalalithaa) rule” should return, and therefore, he added, they should support TVK.

Abolish Sanatana Dharma: Stalin jr

DMK’s Udhayanidhi Stalin has called for the “abolition” of Sanatana Dharma, claiming it “divides people”, repeating the remarks he made in 2023. The BJP accused Udhayanidhi of fanning hatred for vote-bank politics while the VHP sought his expulsion as an MLA.

The AIADMK leadership, however, dismissed the allegations as “rumours” and accused the dissident leaders of “unleashing a bag of lies” after failing to secure victories in their own districts.

In a post on X, the party also alleged that Velumani, Shanmugam and C Vijayabaskar were themselves seeking ministerial berths in the TVK government. It asserted that alliance decisions could not be taken by a handful of MLAs and maintained that party cadre remained firmly behind Palaniswami.

The rumblings in the MGR-founded AIADMK revived memories of the internal power struggles that followed the death of founder MG Ramachandran in 1987 and then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016. The DMK also dismissed Shanmugam’s claims of post-poll alliance talks between the two parties, accusing him of trying to create a “split” within his own party.

Taking strong exception to Shanmugam’s remarks, organising secretary RS Bharati claimed that the AIADMK leader decided to support the Vijay-led TVK government and therefore, made the “baseless charge”.

Bharati said Stalin had already stated that the Dravidian major would function as an opposition party. “After the election results, we already clarified that these reports were speculation and rumours. This continues to be our stand,” Bharati added.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK senior leaders urged Palaniswami to convene a party’s general council meeting to thoroughly deliberate on the reasons for the electoral debacle and to strengthen the party in the future.

The 1,34,25,260 votes the party received in the polls were for the AIADMK, for “our alliance, for Two Leaves, for the people’s CM called Edappadiar,” according to the party’s X handle.

The X post also said Palaniswami painstakingly managed the party and that the workers were with him only, and that AIADMK was not a party of a few MLAs but one built on cadre strength. “They have now decided (to be with Palaniswami),” it said.

Adding to the twist, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan claimed that both the DMK and AIADMK approached him to become the Tamil Nadu CM to head a possible alliance the Dravidian archrivals could have forged to keep the TVK away from power.