AIADMK vs AIADMK: How support for Vijay’s TVK ‘splits’ Amma’s party again

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu is witnessing another AIADMK vs AIADMK showdown with Vijay gearing up for one floor test Days after being sworn in as chief minister.Hours after a faction led by CV Shanmugam announced its decision to support TVK, AIADMK leader Agri SS Krishnamurthy warned the rebel MLAs that action would be taken against those violating party directives.“AIADMK has directed all its MLAs to vote against TVK in tomorrow’s Tamil Nadu assembly hall test. Action will be taken against those MLAs who violate the party’s directives,” Krishnamurti said.

former minister and Edappadi K Palaniswami Deputy MP OS Manian also expressed his opinion, saying that all 47 AIADMK MLAs supported EPS as the party leader in the legislature.“All 47 AIADMK MLAs have supported Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party leader in the legislature. The letters of support from these MLAs have been submitted to Speaker JC D Prabhakar,” he said.Earlier in the day, a faction of the AIADMK, led by MPs SP Velumani and Shanmugam, announced support for the Vijay government.After meeting senior party leaders and MLAs, Shanmugam said he would meet Chief Minister Vijay and hand over a letter expressing support for his government.“We formed this party against the DMK. For 53 years, our politics has been centered around being against the DMK. A proposal was made to form the AIADMK government with the support of the DMK. However, a majority of our members rejected it,” Shanmugam said.Around 30 MLAs, including two senior leaders, are believed to be part of the party’s camp that opposed Palaniswami’s leadership after the party’s collapse.Velumani, however, maintained that the move did not constitute a schism.“This is not the dissolution of the AIADMK, but we will wait for the ‘right’ decision of the general secretary to take the party forward,” he said.He also claimed that AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami was keen on forming the government with DMK support.“We are against this decision as the AIADMK was formed only to defeat the DMK,” he said.Earlier, internal divisions surfaced after a group of AIADMK MLAs led by Shanmugam submitted a letter to interim Speaker MV Karuppaiah seeking the appointment of Virumani as the party leader in the Legislative Council.Some MLAs have also reportedly called for Palaniswami’s resignation due to the party’s poor performance in the polls.The AIADMK contested in 167 of the 234 constituencies but won only 47 seats. After the results were announced, Palaniswami held a series of meetings with the party’s MLAs, but several senior leaders and former ministers including Shanmugam and Virumani did not attend.