CHENNAI: AIADMK senior party leaders and MLAs huddled again on Tuesday morning at former minister C Ve Shanmugam’s house amid the deepening power struggle over the legislature party leadership and growing pressure on Edappadi K Palaniswami after the party’s electoral setback.The fresh round of meetings came after late-night consultations at Shanmugam’s home for the third consecutive day, where victorious MLAs and district secretaries reportedly discussed electing a new AIADMK legislature party leader and possible changes in the party leadership.The rift became visible on the very first day of the Assembly session as AIADMK MLAs arrived in two separate camps, one led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and another by senior leader S P Velumani.Soon after the newly elected MLAs took oath, Palaniswami submitted a letter to pro-tem Speaker M V Karuppaiah seeking recognition as leader of the AIADMK legislature party and naming Thalavai Sundaram as party whip.Hours later, a rival bloc led by C Ve Shanmugam and Velumani submitted a separate representation urging the Speaker to recognise Velumani as legislature party leader and C Vijayabaskar as whip. Another representation from the rebel camp reportedly sought recognition for Shanmugam as floor leader.Sources in the party said the anti-Palaniswami faction was trying to consolidate the support of at least 32 MLAs to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law, amid speculation that the camp was exploring a possible understanding with actor-politician C Joseph Vijay and his TVK.According to party insiders, the Sundaram-led camp backing EPS currently has the support of around 17 to 20 of the party’s 47 MLAs, while the Velumani-Shanmugam bloc enjoys the backing of nearly 30 legislators.“There is a plan to remove Edappadi K Palaniswami from the post of general secretary,” a senior AIADMK source said.Despite being outnumbered within the legislature party, Palaniswami is believed to have argued before the pro-tem Speaker that, as the elected general secretary of the AIADMK, he alone was authorised under party rules to function as legislature party leader.The rival faction countered that only a formal meeting of AIADMK MLAs could elect the legislature party leader and submitted signatures of nearly 30 MLAs backing Velumani.For the third consecutive day, consultative meetings of victorious MLAs and district secretaries continued late into the night at the residence of former minister C Ve Shanmugam. Sources said discussions centred around electing a new AIADMK legislature party leader and possible changes in the party leadership following the election setback.With both factions staking competing claims, sources in the secretariat indicated that the Speaker was unlikely to take an immediate decision due to the legal and political complications involved.The latest crisis marks the third major split threat in the AIADMK’s history. The first came after the death of former chief minister M G Ramachandran in 1987, when the party split between factions led by Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. The second rupture followed Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, when O Panneerselvam rebelled against the leadership before eventually being expelled in 2022.The current rebellion comes in the aftermath of AIADMK’s poor electoral performance. Contesting 167 of the 234 Assembly seats, the party managed to win only 47 seats. The defeat has intensified internal differences over whether the party should support the ruling TVK government headed by Vijay.While one faction strongly opposed extending support to TVK, another section favoured offering outside support to the Vijay-led government. Rebel MLAs also demanded that Palaniswami step down, blaming him for successive electoral setbacks, including defeats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 2021 Assembly election, 2024 Lok Sabha election and the 2025 Erode bypoll.Signs of the widening divide had emerged soon after the election results, when Velumani, Shanmugam and several of their supporters skipped meetings convened by Palaniswami.Former AIADMK leader K C Palanisamy said there was “a clear split” within the party and warned that more MLAs could extend support to TVK if Palaniswami continued as leader.“He should voluntarily step down so the party can reunite and prepare for the next election,” he said.Political analyst Sathyalaya Ramakrishnan, however, urged both camps to resolve differences through dialogue, saying the party still appeared formally united as all AIADMK MLAs sat together in the Assembly.Amid mounting speculation of a split, AIADMK MLA Esakki Subaya dismissed reports of a crisis and insisted the party remained intact.“Everything is going well within the party. No one can break the party,” Subaya told reporters, calling reports of a split “false news” and asserting that the AIADMK remained focused on governance and public welfare.(With agency inputs)
