Chennai:
A faction of the AIADMK – led by SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam extended support Tuesday to Tamil Nadu’s ruling coalition headed by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay‘s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. The faction leaders plan to meet Vijay later today.
Shanmugam pointed to electoral defeats suffered by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over the past decade – three at the hands of arch-rivals Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and a fourth, last month, inflicted by the TVK – as motivation.
“We need to revive the party… discuss its future,…we urge General Secretary (AIADMK boss and ex-chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami) to convene the council” he said, also calling out the party for having considered an alliance with the DMK.
An AIADMK-DMK tie-up would have been politically unprecedented; it would have up-ended decades of fierce, sometimes violent, rivalry. Nevertheless, it was reporedly considered by some last week to stop Vijay and the TVK from ruling the state.
A ‘for 53 years…’ reminder to EPS
“We founded this party against the DMK. For 53 years, our politics was against it. Given this, a proposal suggesting an AIADMK government with DMK support was rejected….If we formed such an alliance, AIADMK would not exist,” he explained.
Shanmugam also said he had no intention of splitting the AIADMK, which sets up a dramatic battle with its core leadership – specifically EPS, as Palaniswami is called – who had earlier refused the rebel faction’s call to ally with Vijay and the TVK.
“We stand without any alliance after elections… our focus must be on revitalising and strengthening our party. AIADMK MLA-elects decided to extend our support to the TVK, which emerged victorious.”
He also said the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party – revived by EPS last year to restore fortunes – is over. That is critical because it removes Vijay’s key objection to allying with the AIADMK – that it is allied with his ‘ideological enemy’, the BJP.
Shanmugam further said AIADMK MLA-elects had adopted a resolution that “favoured support to the TVK”.
AIADMK hits back
A second group of AIADMK leaders – seen as pro-EPS and led by KP Munusamy and Thambidurai – met him at his residence.
READ | ‘Wagging Your Tails At Ruling Party’: AIADMK Jab As Rebels Inch To TVK
And on X the party’s IT wing slammed the would-be rebels, calling them “betrayers and incapable of winning seats in their own districts”. “It is EPS who protects the party and the people voted for AIADMK only for EPS…”
சொந்த மாவட்டத்தில் வெற்றி பெற வக்கில்லாதவர்களின் சங்கமம் பொய் மூட்டைகளை அவிழ்த்து விட்டிருக்கிறது!
திமுக-வுடன் கூட்டணி என்று ஊடகங்களில் வந்த சில வதந்திகளை தூக்கிக் கொண்டு வருவதை தான் இத்தனை நாள் நீங்கள் தீட்டிக் கொண்டிருந்த மாபெரும் திட்டமா?
அதே ஊடகங்களில் நீங்கள் மூன்று பேரும்…
— AIADMK – SayYesToWomenSafety&AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) May 12, 2026
The Puducherry angle
The drama this morning follows a scare for EPS last week after some of his flock holed up at a Puducherry resort over demands he back the TVK. Leaders loyal to him dismissed talk of a rebellion and claimed the move was to prevent poaching.
RECAP | AIADMK Claims ‘All Is Well’ After Resort Buzz Over ‘Pro-TVK’ MLAs
Vijay’s party secured a dominant win in the election with 108 of the state’s 234 seats, but fell 10 short of majority.
Five of those were supplied by the Congress but there was much drama in securing the remaining, with the Shanmugam-led AIADMK faction – which has 47 seats – pushing to fill that gap.
NDTV Special | 4 Days Of Political Drama That Made Vijay Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Eventually eight seats, two from two Left parties, two from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi pushed and two from the IUML helped the TVK past the finish line, but left its future uncertain given all four are long-time DMK allies.