Even after the fall of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and the subsequent formation of the TVK government, the political atmosphere in the state remains tense. The AIADMK, which had performed poorly in the assembly elections, continues to face several setbacks. Just 21 days after the election results were declared, the party suffered another major blow yesterday – Monday, when three MLAs from the rebel faction led by senior leaders CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani resigned and joined the ruling TVK party. Following this development, the opposition parties – DMK and AIADMK – accused the TVK of indulging in “horse trading”. However, the ruling party rejected the allegations of political horse trading, while the three MLAs insisted that they had joined TVK of their own free will. He also praised Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay for the steps taken in favor of women – steps that, he said, were reminiscent of those taken by former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
** Well-planned conspiracy: AIADMK chief **
AIADMK chief EK Palaniswami launched a scathing attack on the TVK government for its “sly acts”, saying such practices were never seen before in Tamil Nadu politics. He termed the resignation of the three MLAs as a “well-planned conspiracy”. Meanwhile, DMK chief MK Stalin also hit out at TVK over allegations of “horse-trading”. This sequence of events has come to light after the crushing defeat of AIADMK in the recently concluded state assembly elections. It is noteworthy that this is the fourth major election defeat of the party since 2019. Party MLAs appear to be divided into two factions: one faction is supporting party general secretary Palaniswami, and the other is supporting the Shanmugam-Velumani duo. The two factions also have different views on the issue of the TVK government proving its majority after the swearing-in ceremony. AIADMK’s number of seats in the House has reduced.
Although the Palaniswami faction voted against it, the opposition faction – comprising 25 MLAs – extended its support to the Vijay K.-led government. As a result, Vijay won the trust vote very easily. Speaker JCD Prabhakar accepted the resignations of three rebel MLAs, reducing AIADMK’s tally of seats in the 234-member Assembly from 47 to 44. Contesting on AIADMK ticket, Maragatham Kumaravel emerged victorious from Maduranthakam constituency, while P. Sathyabhama won the Dharapuram seat, and S. Jayakumar won the Perundurai assembly seat.
**Reasons given by MLAs for resignation**
Soon after meeting the Speaker at the Secretariat, the three MLAs met senior TVK leader and Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Aadhav Arjun. Subsequently, in the presence of TVK General Secretary and Minister of State N. Anand, the three MLAs formally joined the party. Kumaraswamy said that after the assembly election results, the AIADMK had adopted a dual strategy: first, try to form a government in alliance with the DMK, and then support the TVK.
Speaking to reporters along with Sathyabhama and Jayakumar, Kumaraswamy said, “We did not want to join the DMK. However, a group of about 30 MLAs led by former state minister Shanmugam opposed the AIADMK’s proposal to join the DMK and instead advocated supporting the TVK. Still, we did not leave the party at that time.”
He further said, “We have now decided to join TVK on our own free will, as we were against AIADMK’s alliance with DMK. This decision is personal; we have taken this decision not for any selfish motive, but to maintain our self-respect and to serve the interests of the people of our respective constituencies.”
However, what was a saving grace for Palaniswami was that five MLAs from the Shanmugam-Velumani camp returned to his party. The three MLAs who resigned were among the 25 AIADMK MLAs who voted in favor of the Vijay-led TVK government, defying party instructions, during the floor test held on May 13.
After the elections are over, there will be by-elections on 4 seats.
With his resignation accepted by the Speaker, by-elections will now be held on four assembly seats in Tamil Nadu – including the Tiruchirappalli East seat, which was vacated by Chief Minister Vijay himself. Speaker Prabhakar said the resignations of the three AIADMK MLAs have been accepted as they were submitted in the correct format as per the laid down procedures.
Just 21 days after the declaration of assembly election results, the matter of resignation and split in AIADMK has come to light. In view of the elections, this is a big blow to the AIADMK. Also, this situation is a blow to DMK also; Before the elections, many of its allies (including Congress, VCK and IUML) had joined the TVK government, and left parties also supported the Vijay-led administration.
Amid speculation of a possible reconciliation between the two factions of the AIADMK, five MLAs loyal to Shanmugam met Palaniswami at Greenways Road in Chennai and formally joined his faction. As a result, the number of MLAs supporting Palaniswami in the Assembly has increased to 27. Among the MLAs who switched sides from the Velumani camp is S.M. Sukumar (from Arcot). With three resignations and five MLAs returning to the Palaniswami camp, the strength of the rebel group has been significantly reduced from 25 members to just 17.
