In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK party has split into two factions. Party leader CV Shanmugam has officially announced support for CM Vijay’s party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). It is being said that 30 MLAs along with him have also agreed to extend support to Vijay.
On Tuesday morning, Shanmugam said, “We accept the mandate of the people. This mandate is not for TVK, but for Vijay. Therefore, we extend our support to the TVK government.”
He also said, “If we had aligned with DMK, the existence of AIADMK itself would have ended.”
In the 2026 Assembly elections, AIADMK managed to win only 47 seats. Now, only the Palaniswami faction remains in AIADMK, which includes 17 leaders.
Edappadi Palaniswami arrived at the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday with leaders of his faction.
Shanmugam said – our entire focus is on strengthening the party again
Shanmugam said that AIADMK was founded against DMK. For 53 years, our politics has been against DMK. In this context, a proposal was brought suggesting that an AIADMK government be formed with DMK’s support. However, most of our members rejected it and opposed it. If we had aligned with DMK, AIADMK’s existence would have ended.
Shanmugam said that we are currently standing without any alliance, and now our focus should be on making our party strong and active again. Ultimately, we decided to extend our support to TVK, which emerged victorious.
Former AIADMK leader said – the party is already split
Former AIADMK leader KC Palanisamy said that there is a clear split within the party. Many MLAs want a change in leadership. If Edappadi remains the leader, there is a possibility that some MLAs may shift support to TVK.
He further said that Edappadi Palaniswami should step down from the top post so that the party can reunite and contest the next election.
4 reasons behind the split in AIADMK…
Loss of trust among party leaders: Officially, Edappadi K. Palaniswami is the General Secretary of AIADMK. However, most people within the party are no longer with him. It is believed that the rebel faction is now preparing to formally break away.
Party losing elections for the past 5 cycles: The internal crisis has emerged at a difficult time for AIADMK, as the party has been facing continuous electoral defeats. These include the 2019 general election, the 2021 assembly election, the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and another 2021 assembly election. In addition, the party also suffered defeat in the 2025 Erode bypoll.
Palaniswami’s rift with BJP in 2024: Senior AIADMK leaders say that during seat-sharing talks before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Edappadi K. Palaniswami allegedly insulted senior BJP leaders, after which his relations with Delhi deteriorated.
Allocating weak seats to BJP for 2026 elections: Rebel leaders also accuse Palaniswami of allocating 27 seats to BJP in the 2026 assembly elections that were almost unwinnable, allegedly to weaken the BJP politically.
TVK chief and actor Vijay becomes the 9th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay took oath as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 10 May. TVK leader M.V. Karuppaiya has been appointed as the Protem Speaker. The Governor has asked CM Vijay to prove his majority in the Assembly on 13 May.
First non-DMK-AIADMK government after 59 years
For the first time since 1967 in Tamil Nadu, a third party government is going to be formed apart from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
In 1967, DMK defeated Congress and came to power for the first time. In 1972, MG Ramachandran (MGR) split from DMK and formed AIADMK, and since then both parties have been alternating in power.
During this period, many parties like Congress, BJP, PMK, DMDK emerged, but none could end the dominance of DMK-AIADMK.
Thus, for the past nearly 59 years, Tamil Nadu’s politics has revolved around DMK and AIADMK. After 59 years, a third party government has been formed.
