Cracks within the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) appeared to deepen on Tuesday after senior leader and MLA CV Shanmugam publicly announced support for the C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, while strongly rejecting any possibility of the party aligning with the DMK.
The statement has effectively confirmed the existence of two clear camps within the AIADMK following the dramatic political developments in Tamil Nadu after the Assembly election results.
The latest confrontation comes after days of parallel consultations by rival camps within the AIADMK, with one faction rallying behind Edappadi K Palaniswami and another led by Shanmugam and former minister SP Velumani pushing for a major political reset after the election setback.
Rumours of another split within the AIADMK intensified after several party MLAs reached Shanmugam’s residence following the election results, where the party managed to secure only 47 seats in the Assembly.
Leaders from the Shanmugam camp said the AIADMK-led NDA had failed to win the confidence of voters and admitted that the party was passing through one of the most difficult phases in its history.
“The AIADMK is facing continuous setbacks, and there is an urgent need to revive the party and restore the rule envisioned by MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa,” Shanmugam said.
Speculation has also grown over a possible understanding between the AIADMK faction led by Shanmugam and Vijay’s TVK, especially after several MLAs associated with the camp were moved to a private resort in neighbouring Puducherry.
Addressing reporters, Shanmugam said a majority of AIADMK members opposed the idea of forming a government with DMK support, arguing that such a move would politically damage the party that was founded in opposition to the Dravidian major.
Shanmugam also alleged that AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had explored the possibility of becoming Chief Minister with the support of the DMK, a proposal he claimed was rejected by the majority of legislators.
He claimed the suggestion had shocked several party leaders because the AIADMK was founded specifically to oppose the DMK politically.
“We started this party against the DMK. For 53 years, we did politics against the DMK. In such a situation, the proposal that an AIADMK government would be formed with the support of the DMK was one that the majority of members did not accept and instead opposed,” he said.
“If we join an alliance with the DMK, then the AIADMK will vanish. They didn’t accept it. We took the decision to support the TVK, which got the victory,” Shanmugam said.
Calling the DMK an “evil force” in Tamil Nadu politics, he argued that any arrangement with the ruling party would have violated the founding principles of the AIADMK.
“Some people proposed that we, as the AIADMK legislative party, should form a government with the support of the DMK. This proposal goes against the founding principles of our party because the AIADMK was founded to uproot the DMK,” he said.
Shanmugam faction names Assembly leader, whip
Shanmugam claimed that a majority of AIADMK MLAs had also passed a resolution favouring an independent political line for the party in future elections.
According to him, the legislators resolved that the AIADMK should contest elections independently without entering into alliances.
Shanmugam said that the MLAs also resolved that the pre-poll alliance had effectively come to an end following the election verdict. He added that the AIADMK was currently not aligned with any political bloc and argued that a “new alliance” would have to emerge in Tamil Nadu going forward.
He also hinted that Tamil Nadu could witness the emergence of a new political alignment in the coming months.
He further announced key appointments within the legislature party, naming former minister SP Velumani as the AIADMK Assembly Leader and C Vijayabaskar as the party Whip.
He also named G Hari as the Deputy Leader of the legislative party.
“So, the majority of AIADMK MLAs in the meeting passed a resolution that the AIADMK will contest the election alone. AIADMK will be without any alliance. We are without an alliance now and should revamp our party in the coming days,” he said.
“Secondly, our former Minister SP Velumani will be the AIADMK Assembly Leader. The Whip is C Vijayabaskar. We gave our letter to the Pro-tem Speaker yesterday,” Shanmugam added.
AIADMK leaders call for internal review after election defeat
Reflecting on the party’s recent electoral setbacks, Shanmugam said AIADMK leaders had collectively accepted responsibility for the defeats and called for a broader internal review of the organisation’s political direction.
He said party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had been requested to convene a General Council meeting at the earliest to discuss the reasons behind the losses.
The leaders said the proposed General Council meeting should focus on rebuilding the organisation, reviewing alliance decisions and addressing the reasons behind the party’s repeated electoral setbacks.
“Hereafter, regarding the AIADMK, in the past elections, we have been facing continuous losses. There is no other body to blame any individual. We accept the verdict and collectively accept the loss,” he said.
“We should do research on why we lost, in consultation with all. We have asked General Secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami to convene a meeting of the General Council as soon as possible to discuss why we lost,” he added.
Despite the sharp differences within the party, leaders from the Shanmugam camp insisted they had no intention of engineering a formal split in the AIADMK.
“We will remain united. We have no intention of splitting the AIADMK. We are concerned about the AIADMK,” SP Velumani said.
Shanmugam said the MLAs would meet again later in the day for further discussions.