• Source:JND

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is facing an internal crisis after the results of the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly Election, as the party has slipped to third position in the state.

According to a report by news agency PTI, a section of MLA-elects are of the view that the party should support CM Vijay, who made a blockbuster debut in the elections, winning 108 seats and eventually managing to form the government.

In a series of meetings of newly elected AIADMK legislators, called by party general secretary Edappi K Palaniswami (EPS), the party has shown clear signs of division.

A section of AIADMK MLAs wants to support Vijay's government from the outside, while another section is opposing it.

The divisions came to light after senior leaders CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani, both former ministers, skipped the EPS-chaired meetings. Along with them, their supporting MLAs also skipped the said meetings.

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PTI cited party insiders, saying that Shanmugam and Velumani, along with their camps, were open to backing the TVK.

AIADMK has 47 MLAs, and out of them, 28 have held a closed-door meeting in Chennai and formally urged EPS to extend support to the TVK government.

Demands for EPS's exit rise

Apart from support for Vijay, the party is also facing leadership change calls, especially because of the party's poor strike rate of 28.14 per cent.

AIADMK won only 47 seats out of 167 it contested, in its worst performance since J Jayalalitha died in 2016.

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The latest dissent within the party could start another round of factionism and split, eventually weakening it further.

AIADMK facing biggest split fear after Jayalalitha's death

AIADMK started getting weak after Jayalalitha's death. Soon after her demise, the party was divided into three camps of O Panneerselvam (OPS), EPS and Sasikala-TTV Dinakaran camp.

While OPS and EPS reconciled, Sasikala was ousted. Later, EPS made his control firm, sidelining OPS, who eventually joined DMK before the recent elections.

Speaking to PTI, former AIADMK leader KC Palanisamy said, "There is a clear split within the party. Many MLAs want a change in leadership. If Palaniswami continues as a leader, there is a possibility of some MLAs extending support to the TVK."


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