May 12, 2026 14:01 pm IST

Opinion | Is AIADMK Set To Split? Inside The Sharp Rebellion Brewing Against Palaniswami

Thirty of Palaniswami's colleagues in the AIADMK Legislature party, led by SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam, have refused to propose his name as leader.

TS Sudhir TS Sudhir Columnist

There was nothing happy about Edappadi Palaniswami's birthday on May 12. His colleagues, instead of throwing a party, decided to play party pooper by splitting the party. 

Thirty of Palaniswami's colleagues in the AIADMK Legislature party, led by SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam, refused to propose his name as leader, leaving him in the minority with the support of just 17 legislators. This group then went to declare its support for the TVK government led by Joseph Vijay. Both Palaniswami and Velumani have been allotted separate seats in the front row in the Assembly by the Speaker now. 

While the rebellion is so far manifesting itself only in the legislature party, it is clear that the party at large is no longer willing to put up with repeated failures under Palaniswami's leadership and wants to make the best of a hopeless situation. The 2026 assembly election was the fourth big defeat for the AIADMK since 2019. 

The 'I, Me, Myself' Politics

To put it bluntly, Edappadi Palaniswami's brand of 'I, me, myself' politics has run its course. The trigger, apart from the failure of the AIADMK to return to power and worse, ending a poor third, was Palaniswami's keenness to steal the mandate and become Chief Minister on the crutches of the outside support extended by the DMK. This, according to........

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