Chennai

The opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam appeared to be heading toward a major split on Tuesday after a group of rebel legislators openly challenged party chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami, accused him of exploring an alliance with longtime rival the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and announced support for the government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay ahead of Wednesday’s floor test.

Around 30 AIADMK legislators are believed to have joined the dissident camp, led by senior leaders S. P. Velumani and C. Ve. Shanmugam. The rebellion follows the party’s disappointing performance in the April 23 Assembly elections, where it managed to win only 47 of the 164 seats it contested.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Shanmugam said the rebel group would meet Vijay and formally submit a letter extending support to his government. He alleged that Palaniswami had explored the possibility of forming a government with the backing of the DMK, a move he claimed was strongly opposed by party members.

Shanmugam said the AIADMK was founded to oppose and politically defeat the DMK, and any attempt to align with its ideological rival would go against the party’s core principles. He added that the party now needed “new life” and a return to what he described as the spirit of “Amma rule,” referring to former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, and argued that supporting the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government was the right course.

The AIADMK leadership, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless and accused the dissident leaders of spreading misinformation after failing to deliver victories in their own regions.

In a social media post, the party alleged that Velumani, Shanmugam, and C. Vijayabaskar were themselves lobbying for ministerial positions in the TVK government. The party insisted that decisions regarding alliances could not be made by a handful of legislators and asserted that the cadre remained firmly behind Palaniswami.

The latest unrest has revived memories of the internal struggles that shook the party following the deaths of founder M. G. Ramachandran in 1987 and Jayalalithaa in 2016.

Meanwhile, the DMK strongly rejected Shanmugam’s allegations of post-poll negotiations between the two Dravidian rivals. DMK organising secretary R. S. Bharati accused the rebel leader of attempting to manufacture a split within his own party through false claims.

Bharati reiterated that DMK president M. K. Stalin had already made it clear that the party would sit in the opposition and had no intention of joining hands with the AIADMK. He said the party had dismissed such speculation immediately after the election results and its stand remained unchanged.

At the same time, several senior AIADMK leaders urged Palaniswami to convene the party’s general council to review the reasons behind the electoral setback and chart a strategy for rebuilding the organisation.

The party also highlighted that over 1.34 crore votes polled in the election were cast in favour of the AIADMK, its alliance, and the “Two Leaves” symbol, insisting that the organisation’s strength lies in its cadre base rather than a small group of legislators.

Adding another twist to the political drama, Thol. Thirumavalavan, chief of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, claimed that both the DMK and AIADMK had approached him with a proposal to lead a possible coalition government as chief minister in an attempt to prevent TVK from coming to power.

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Thirumavalavan said he discussed the proposal with senior party colleagues before ultimately deciding to reject it.