Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai
Chennai, May 25: In a fresh setback to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam amid growing internal turmoil, three party MLAs resigned from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday and joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by Chief Minister Vijay.
The legislators — Maragatham Kumaravel, Jayakumar and Sathyabama — submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar, who accepted them.
The development comes two weeks after 30 AIADMK MLAs led by senior leader CV Shanmugam extended support to the Vijay-led TVK government. The three MLAs who resigned were part of the rebel faction opposing party chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Kumaravel had won from Maduranthakam, Sathyabama from Dharapuram and Jayakumar from Perundurai on AIADMK tickets. Dharapuram and Perundurai are considered part of the party’s traditional Kongu belt stronghold in western Tamil Nadu.
Soon after resigning, the MLAs met TVK Minister Aadhav Arjuna at his chamber.
The three legislators were among the 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs who had earlier backed the TVK government during the May 13 floor test, defying the party whip.
However, five rebel MLAs have since returned to the Palaniswami camp, increasing the number of legislators backing him in the Assembly to 27. Those who switched back include SM Sukumar from Arcot.
With the resignation of three MLAs and the return of five rebels to the AIADMK leadership, the strength of the dissident faction has now reduced from 25 to 17.
The AIADMK had won 47 seats in the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, while Vijay’s TVK emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats, falling short of a majority. TVK later formed the government with support from Congress, IUML, VCK and Left parties, with rebel AIADMK legislators also extending support to the ruling alliance.
Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leader SP Velumani recently denied reports of plans to split the party and reaffirmed that Edappadi Palaniswami remained their leader.
Velumani also said the party should work towards reviving the “Amma rule” associated with former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
He further clarified that neither he nor CV Shanmugam had sought positions in the TVK government, which did not offer Cabinet berths to rebel AIADMK legislators during the recent ministry expansion.