Amid clear signs of a divide within the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay visited AIADMK MLA CV Shanmugam’s residence in Chennai on Tuesday. Shanmugam is one of the leaders heading the camp that is supporting TVK’s Vijay.
This comes after reports of a rift in AIADMK, with senior leaders SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam alleging that party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami wanted to join hands with archrival DMK to keep TVK away from the ruling saddle.
The two leaders also extended their support to the Vijay-led dispensation.
About 30 MLAs are believed to be in the rebel camp that has questioned Palaniswami’s leadership following the party’s defeat in the April 23 assembly polls, news agency PTI reported. The party won only 47 seats out of 164 seats.
Earlier, speaking to the reporters, Shanmugam had said they would meet C Joseph Vijay to provide a letter supporting his government. As per the report, he also claimed that party general secretary Palaniswami wanted to form a government with the DMK’s support.
What the TVK supporting camp says
Shanmugam, who is reportedly leading the camp, said that AIADMK party members were presented with the option to form a government with the support of the MK Stalin-led party. But the members refused to do so as it contradicted the party’s fundamental principle.
Shanmugam further said that the party needs ‘a new life’ and the “Amma (Jayalalithaa) rule” should return, and therefore, he added, they should support TVK.
What has AIADMK said?
AIADMK have 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.
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