Former Tamil Nadu Health Minister and Viralimalai MLA C Vijayabaskar resigned from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, becoming the fifth AIADMK MLA to step down within a month.
Vijayabaskar submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat. The Speaker later accepted his resignation.
The development comes amid growing political turbulence within the AIADMK. Earlier, four AIADMK MLAs resigned from the Assembly and subsequently joined the ruling TVK, further weakening the opposition party's strength in the House.
Earlier, AIADMK leaders accused the ruling TVK of indulging in horse-trading and attempting to dismantle the political legacy of party founder MG Ramachandran (MGR). However, TVK denied the allegations, stating that several AIADMK leaders had become dissatisfied with the leadership of Edappadi K Palaniswami had voluntarily chosen TVK president Vijay as their leader.
A prominent AIADMK leader from Pudukottai district, Vijayabaskar first entered the Assembly in 2001 and later won from the Viralimalai constituency in 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. He served as Tamil Nadu's Health Minister and played a key role in managing the state's response during the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid strong TVK wave, C Vijayabaskar got elected with the margin of 62,073 votes from Viralimalai constituency.
Following the 2026 Assembly elections, Vijayabaskar aligned himself with the rebel AIADMK camp and voted in favour of the TVK government during the floor test. Subsequently, he was removed from the post of AIADMK district secretary by the party leadership.
Sources close to Vijayabaskar said he was unhappy over not being reinstated as district secretary despite reconciliation efforts between the party leadership and rebel legislators. In recent days, he reportedly held consultations with his supporters to discuss his political future.
Sources say very soon he will announce his next course of action.
Hinting at a new beginning, Vijayabaskar in an audio message has expressed gratitude to his constituency people and also said it is not an end, it is beginning.
With the 5th MLA's resignation, Tamil Nadu will witness bypoll for 6 constituencies, one for Trichy East seat as Chief Minister Vijay vacated that seat.
