A rebellion within the AIADMK intensified on Tuesday after a faction led by senior leaders SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam extended support to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) coalition, deepening the crisis within the principal Opposition party in Tamil Nadu. The rebel leaders are also expected to meet Vijay later in the day, signalling a possible political realignment in the state’s rapidly shifting power structure.
Explaining the faction’s move, Shanmugam pointed to the AIADMK’s repeated electoral setbacks over the past decade, including recent defeats to both the DMK and Vijay’s TVK. He said the party urgently needed rebuilding and called upon AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to convene the party council to discuss its future direction.
“We need to revive and strengthen the party. Our politics for the last 53 years has been built in opposition to the DMK,” Shanmugam said, while rejecting suggestions that sections within the AIADMK had considered seeking DMK support to retain relevance after the elections. “If such an alliance had happened, the AIADMK itself would not survive,” he remarked.
The comments underline the growing divide within the party after a section of leaders openly backed cooperation with Vijay’s TVK, which emerged as the single-largest force in the Assembly elections with 108 seats in the 234-member House, falling short of a majority by 10 seats.
Shanmugam also clarified that his faction was not attempting to split the AIADMK but insisted that the party’s elected MLAs had adopted a resolution supporting the TVK government. He further declared that the AIADMK’s alliance with the BJP, revived by EPS ahead of the polls, had effectively ended. The statement is politically significant because Vijay had earlier ruled out any understanding with the AIADMK so long as it remained aligned with the BJP, which he repeatedly described as his “ideological enemy”.
According to the rebel faction, the AIADMK should now focus on rebuilding independently while extending issue-based support to the TVK administration. “We stand without any alliance after the elections. Our focus must now be on revitalising the party,” Shanmugam said.
The developments triggered sharp reactions from the AIADMK’s core leadership. Another group of senior leaders seen as loyal to EPS, including KP Munusamy and M Thambidurai, met Palaniswami at his residence amid efforts to contain the growing unrest. The party’s IT wing also attacked the rebel camp on social media, branding them “betrayers” incapable of winning elections independently and asserting that AIADMK supporters voted only because of EPS’s leadership.
The latest political drama follows days of turmoil within the AIADMK camp, including reports last week that several MLAs had gathered at a resort in Puducherry amid speculation of internal rebellion and demands for support to the TVK. Leaders close to EPS had dismissed those reports at the time, claiming the move was aimed at preventing poaching attempts by rival camps.
Vijay’s TVK eventually crossed the majority mark with support from smaller parties, including Left formations, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the IUML. However, the dependence on outside support has fuelled uncertainty over the long-term stability of the new government, especially because several supporting parties have historically maintained close ties with the DMK.
Against this backdrop, the support extended by the Shanmugam-led AIADMK faction has added a fresh dimension to Tamil Nadu politics, raising questions about the future of the AIADMK, the durability of Vijay’s coalition, and the shape of Opposition politics in the post-election landscape.