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Amid split, both factions claim to be real AIADMK in Tamil Nadu
The crisis within the AIADMK is the latest political drama to roil Tamil Nadu, where Vijay smashed five decades of Dravidian duopoly.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) plunged into crisis on Tuesday as two party factions differed on supporting the ruling alliance led by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and submitted rival claims of being the original outfit to the speaker.
The split came a day before Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay faces a trust vote on the floor of the House. Both sides claimed to be the real party – a replay of the crisis following former CM J Jayalalithaa’s death—but it was unclear just how many lawmakers each faction of the AIADMK had.
On Tuesday, TVK lawmaker JCD Prabhakar was elected speaker unanimously. Soon after the election, one faction led by senior leader CV Shanmugam elected SP Velumani as the AIADMK leader in the legislative assembly and former state minister C Vijayabhaskar as whip. Shanmugam claimed the support of 21 lawmakers and backed the TVK.
Track live updates of Vijay's floor test in Tamil Nadu assembly here
Hours later, former AIADMK minister OS Manian, flanked by senior party leaders, gave a letter to the speaker, declaring Palaniswami as the legislature party chief. “All the 47 (AIADMK) MLAs have signed a letter stating that Palaniswami is the leader of the legislature party,” he told media persons, after meeting the speaker. SS Krishnamurthy was appointed as the whip.
Manian said 26 lawmakers support Palaniswami. The real strength of the two factions will become clear on Wednesday during the trust vote as Shanmugam said that more MLAs would join him. Both factions claimed to be the real AIADMK – a claim the speaker, and ultimately the courts, will have to settle.
“We, as the AIADMK and the AIADMK legislative party, extend our full support to the TVK government headed by the chief minister,” said Shanmugham.
He accused Palaniswami of wanting to form the government with the backing of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, saying the AIADMK was founded to ‘uproot’ the DMK and that such a decision was not acceptable to them. “When we heard this, we were shocked. How is it possible? We told him (Palaniswami) that it is against the founding principles of our party. It cannot happen,” Shanmugham said.
Manian denied his claim, and said the Palaniswami faction was the original party. Manian added that the other faction cannot appoint a legislative party president as only the AIADMK general secretary can convene the legislative party meeting per party rules.
Unlike in the past, the AIADMK did not issue a press statement on the election of the legislative party chief. Both factions claimed their legislative party presidents in letters to the assembly speaker.
The crisis within the AIADMK is the latest political drama to roil Tamil Nadu, where Vijay smashed five decades of Dravidian duopoly to emerge as the single-largest party in the latest assembly polls. After days of uncertainty and three trips to Lok Bhavan, Vijay managed to cobble together a coalition comprising the Congress, the Left, the VCK and the IUML, and took oath on Sunday.
This is not the first time that a battle over the AIADMK has broken out. The dispute erupted after J Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, when rival factions led by Palaniswami, O Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala all staked claim to the iconic two-leaves symbol, prompting the Election Commission to freeze it. In November 2017, after the Palaniswami and Pannerselvam factions merged, EC allotted it the two-leaves symbol, based on the majority support they commanded in both the organisational and legislature wings of the party.
In its order, the EC had said: “The petitions groups (both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam) demonstrated overwhelming support among the members of the General council, and consequently, the Commission hereby holds that the petitioners’ group enjoys the majority support among the members of the General Council and, thus, in the organisational wing of the party.”
In June 2022, Pannerselvam was expelled from the party, triggering a fresh dispute. Panneerselvam’s son and former MPs KC Palaniswamy, V Pugazhendi and others approached EC, challenging the amendments to AIADMK’s bylaws and Palaniswami’s appointment as general secretary in July 2022. EC resumed hearings on April 28, 2025, after the Madras high court vacated a stay order that had halted the inquiry into the party’s internal affairs. The second-round symbol dispute remained unresolved heading into the 2026 assembly elections, with Palaniswami contesting as AIADMK’s chief ministerial candidate under the two leaves symbol.
AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP IS Inbadurai in a post on X said, “During a vote of confidence in the Assembly, if an MLA votes against the orders issued by the party’s official Whip, refrains from participating in the voting, or remains neutral, it will be considered as defection,” he said.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court ruled that the “Legislative Party” and the “Political Party” are different, and that the 10th Schedule of the Constitution recognises only the “Political Party.”
Political analyst T Ramakrishnan said to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law, a faction must prove that it represents two-thirds of the elected members.
“If Shanmugham claims SP Velumani as the leader and Palaniswami claims otherwise, the speaker will have to verify signatures and lists. Until then it will be a long drawn political and legal battle,” he said.
