CM Vijay visits rebel AIADMK MLAs as large faction backs his government

C Joseph Vijay visited AIADMK MLA CV Shanmugam's residence in Chennai, a sign of the rebel camp backing the Vijay-led government. Shanmugam, who is reportedly leading the camp, said they would hand a letter of support to Vijay and claimed Palaniswami wanted to form a government with the DMK's support. He reiterated calls for a new life for AIADMK and restoration of the Amma rule, while the party dismissed the allegations as rumours and accused the dissidents of spreading lies. In a post on X, AIADMK asserted that Velumani, Shanmugam, and C Vijayabaskar were seeking ministerial berths in the TVK government, and maintained that alliance decisions could not be made by a handful of MLAs and that cadre remained behind Palaniswami.

Following AIADMK's defeat in the April 23 assembly polls, with the party winning 47 of 164 seats, senior leaders SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam alleged that party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami sought to join hands with archrival DMK to keep TVK away from the ruling dispensation. The dissidents, who were reportedly leading a camp of about 30 MLAs, extended their support to TVK's Vijay. Shanmugam said he would meet Vijay to hand a letter of support and claimed Palaniswami wanted to form a government with DMK's help. He argued that the party needed a new life and that the Amma rule should return.