Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay comfortably won the vote of confidence in the Assembly on Wednesday, but the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) plunged into a deeper crisis after a majority of its 47 legislators voted for the Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).
Hours after the confidence vote, former chief minister E Palaniswami removed 26 leaders, including 12 legislators, from all party posts and appointed candidates to replace them. But the rebel group’s leader, CV Shanmugam, described the measure as invalid and said they would fight it.
Three days after Vijay was sworn in as Tamil Nadu’s first chief minister not hailing from any of the Dravidian majors, the actor-turned-politician secured 144 votes in the 234-member House, garnering the support of alliance partners Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian Union Muslim League and 25 AIADMK legislators, led by the lawmakers. S.P. Velumani and Shanmugam.
The main opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, has withdrawn from the House citing “compromise”. Only 22 members of the AIADMK, led by Palaniswami, voted against the government while a group of smaller parties, such as the Bharatiya Janata Party, abstained.
“This government works at the speed of the horse, not by bartering horses,” Vijay said.
But TVK’s victory was overshadowed by the crisis brewing within the AIADMK, as both factions had previously elected leaders of their legislative party and made claims to the Speaker of Parliament that they were the original party. This split is reminiscent of the split that occurred in the AIADMK after the death of former chief minister Jay Jayalalithaa, which eventually reached the Election Commission. At that time, Palaniswami emerged the winner.
On Wednesday evening, Palaniswami Shanmugam, Velumani and C Vijayabhaskar, leaders of the rival faction, were removed from their party posts. He also dismissed 23 others from their positions in the directorates, and other officials considered close to the faction leaders.
Read also: Chaos, criticism and walkouts: Vijay’s win of the vote of confidence in Tamil Nadu was not short of drama
Palaniswami did not reveal the reasons behind the dismissals, but he appointed new members as district secretaries.
Shanmugam refused the takedowns. “Palaniswami is planning to hold the general council meeting by removing us from our party posts. We will participate in the general council meeting. No one can stop us,” he said.
But Palaniswami loyalists claimed that the 25 people who supported Vijay would face court action under the anti-defection law, which requires a faction to have two-thirds strength to avoid disqualification.
“The anti-defection law under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution will certainly apply to any AIADMK MLA who acts against the orders of the official whip appointed by Palaniswami,” AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP IS Enpadurai said.
“During the vote of confidence in the Assembly, if the movement votes against the orders issued by the official whip of the party, abstains from participating in the vote, or remains neutral, it will be considered a defection. Just because some people are working as a separate faction or claim to have whip majority support from the MLAs, they cannot appoint a whip separately,” he said.
But Shanmugam argued that they chose their own whip.
A decision on disqualification under the anti-defection law will have to be made by the Speaker of Parliament – currently TVK’s JCD Prabhakar – and ultimately by the courts.
Soon after the Assembly proceedings began, the controversies in the AIADMK spilled over into the Assembly chamber.
All 47 AIADMK legislators will vote against TVK, Palaniswami said. Speaker Prabhakar then allowed Velumani to speak, drawing sharp reactions from Palaniswami who said Velumani was not authorized to speak. Prabhakar said he invited Velumani to speak. Velumani said his party’s MPs will vote for TVK.
“We, as AIADMK legislators, will vote for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam,” he said.
Palaniswami later told reporters that giving Velumani the opportunity was against the association’s rules. “The party has appointed Agri SS Krishnamurthy as its whip and some former ministers (AIADMK) who were elected as MLAs have issued statements that amounted to betrayal of the AIADMK and violation of political discipline,” he said.
Palaniswami alleged that the government was formed by luring some AIADMK members with ministerial posts and board appointments. Referring to the election of AIADMK legislators under the party’s ‘two cards’ banner, Palaniswami said: “Instead of remaining loyal to the party, they have betrayed it. This is against law and justice.”
Shanmugam, on behalf of the AIADMK, said 25 MLAs supported Vijay and accused Palaniswami of lying. “The letter stating that the leader of the legislative party, whip and treasurer will be selected by convening a meeting of the legislative party which was submitted by the People’s Party to the Speaker of Parliament is fake. Because no such meetings were held,” he alleged.
Shanmugan alleged that Palaniswami had asked the lawmakers to sign a resolution making him the prime ministerial candidate in a DMK-backed government and that those who signed would be given ministerial posts.
“I told him that forming a government with the support of the DMK is against the founding principles of the AIADMK. It cannot happen. Since he is power-hungry, he wanted to become the chief minister,” he said.
Read also: Vijay finally proved the majority, passing the floor test with the support of 144 MLAs
He added that a meeting of the legislative party was held and a resolution was passed in which Velumani was elected as the leader of the party in the legislative council and C Vijayabhaskar as chief whip. “This copy of the resolution has been submitted to the Speaker,” he said, alleging that Palaniswami did not hold any meeting of the legislative party.
Velumani said their aim was not to divide the party but to strengthen it.
“Those who left Kazhagam (AIADMK) should be invited back, including VK Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran, into the fold and the party should be strengthened. We have no intention of dividing the party,” he said.
This is not the first time a fight has broken out over the AIADMK.
The dispute erupted after the death of J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, when rival factions led by O Palaniswami, O Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala demanded the famous two-leaf symbol, prompting the Election Commission to freeze it. In November 2017, after the merger of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam factions, the EC allocated the two-card symbol, based on the majority support it received in both the organizational and legislative wings of the party.
In June 2022, Panneerselvam was expelled from the party, sparking a new dispute. Panneerselvam’s son, former MPs KC Palaniswami, V Pugazhendi and others approached the EC, challenging the amendments to the AIADMK bye-laws and Palaniswami’s appointment as general secretary in July 2022. The EC resumed the hearings on April 28, 2025, after the Madras High Court set aside the stay order halting the investigation into the party’s internal affairs. The dispute over the second round symbol remained unresolved till the 2026 Assembly elections, where Palaniswami contested as the chief ministerial candidate of the AIADMK under the two-leaf symbol.
