AIADMK in crisis: 3 MLAs resign, set to join TVK after poll loss

Three AIADMK MLAs—Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama, and Jayakumar—resigned from the party, reducing its assembly tally to 44. The MLAs also met TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna, signalling a shift in allegiance amid a deepening internal crisis.

Three MLAs Resign from AIADMK

After an election loss, the problems for the AIADMK seem to be rising as three party MLAs, Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama, and Jayakumar, on Monday tendered their resignation to Assembly speaker JCD Prabakaran at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat. All three MLAs also met Tamil Nadu Minister and TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna to join hands with the party.

Assembly Speaker Prabakaran will announce whether he has accepted their resignation, as he reviews their resignation letters. After the Speaker accepts their resignation, bye-elections will be held for these Madurantakam, Dharapuram and Perundurai constituencies, along with Trichy East, from where Chief Minister Vijay had tendered his resignation after winning two seats. Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama, and Jayakumar had won Madurantakam, Dharapuram and Perundurai seats, respectively. AIADMK had won 47 seats in the elections; these resignations will bring down their tally to 44 seats.

Deepening Internal Rift

The party has been facing an internal rift since the Assembly elections. Vijay's floor test turned into an ADMK versus ADMK showdown after 25 of the party MLAs led by CV Shanmugam voted for the TVK. Although the CM Vijay-led TVK had the support of 119 MLAs, it passed the floor test with 144 votes. While AIADMK General Secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami accused Shanmugam of defying the party's whip, in turn, Shanmugam questioned the authority of the whip appointed by EPS. DMK had accused the TVK of "horse trading."

On May 18, Senior AIADMK leader S Semmalai on Monday resigned from the party and submitted his resignation letter to AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, citing dissatisfaction over recent developments within the party and expressing anguish over its current state. In his resignation letter, Semmalai said the series of events in the party following the elections had caused him "immense mental anguish" and claimed that lakhs of party workers shared similar concerns. (ANI)

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