Party sources said factions within the AIADMK were patched up on Wednesday after rebel MLAs led by former minister SP Velumani met party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami at his residence and extended their support to his leadership, PTI reported.

Velumani was accompanied during the meeting by about 13 legislators. However, former minister Shanmugam – who had earlier joined Velumani and other MLAs in urging the party to support the TVK government – was noticeably absent.
Soon after meeting Palaniswami, Velumani, along with former minister Dr C Vijayabaskar, supporting MLAs and senior leaders including Agri SS Krishnamurthy, met Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar and submitted a letter stating that they would work as a unified party in the Assembly. Vijaya Bhaskar also withdrew his earlier request for recognition as party whip.
Velumani said there was no division in the party and differences of opinion had been resolved.

