- CV Shanmugam's AIADMK faction extends support to ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu
- Shanmugam cites AIADMK's electoral defeats as reason for backing the ruling coalition
- He also criticises AIADMK leader Palaniswami's DMK alliance proposal as unacceptable
A faction of the AIADMK - led by CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani - extended support Tuesday to Tamil Nadu's ruling coalition headed by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. The faction leaders plan to meet Vijay today.
Shangmugam pointed to electoral defeats suffered by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over the past decade - three at the hands of arch-rivals Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and a fourth, last month, inflicted by the TVK - as motivation.
"We need to revive the party... must discuss its future," he told the press, also calling out AIADMK boss and ex-chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for having considered an alliance with the DMK - a politically unprecedented partnership, one that would have up-ended decades of fierce, sometimes violent, rivalry - to stop the TVK from establishing its government.
"We founded this party against the DMK. For 53 years, our politics was against it. Given this, a proposal suggesting an AIADMK government with DMK support was rejected....If we formed such an alliance, AIADMK would not exist."
"We currently stand without any alliance... our focus must be on revitalising and strengthening our party. We ultimately decided to extend our support to the TVK, which emerged victorious," he said.
Shanmugam also said he had no intention of splitting the AIADMK, which sets up a dramatic battle with its core leadership - specifically EPS, as Palaniswami is called - who had earlier refused the rebel faction's call to ally with Vijay and the TVK.
"This isn't breakup of AIADMK... will await General Secretary's 'right' decision to take party forward," Velumani said.
A resolution passed by the rebel group also called on the AIADMK to end all ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, with whom EPS had allied, again, ahead of the 2026 Assembly election in an effort to restore the Tamil party's fortunes.
Meanwhile, a second group of AIADMK leaders - seen as backing Palaniswami and with KP Munusamy and Thambidurai at the head - have rushed to meet with EPS at his residence.
The drama this morning follows a scare for EPS last week after some of his flock holed up at a Puducherry resort over demands he back the TVK. Leaders loyal to him dismissed talk of a rebellion and claimed the move was to prevent poaching.
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Vijay's party secured a dominant win in the election with 108 of the state's 234 seats, but fell 10 short of majority.
Five of those were supplied by the Congress but there was much drama in securing the remaining, with the Shanmugam-led AIADMK faction - which has 47 seats - pushing to fill that gap.
Eventually four seats from two Left parties and two from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi pushed the TVK past the finish line, but left its future uncertain given all four - the Congress, the two Left parties, and the VCK - are long-time DMK allies.
