CHENNAI: The rebellion within the AIADMK fizzled out after the dissenters returned to the official group headed by general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, and elected him as the floor leader of the party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Earlier, the 25-MLA rebel bloc, headed by senior C Ve Shanmugam, had submitted a letter to Speaker JCD Prabhakar stating that they have elected SP Velumani as the floor leader. On the other hand, the 22-member EPS group also staked claim for the post, leading to a crisis within the party.
However, after their plans to join the TVK-led government headed by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay fell through, four MLAs resigned from the Assembly and joined TVK, while six MLAs returned to the EPS camp. With serious depletion in their ranks and the threat of disqualification hanging above their heads, the rebels surrendered to the official faction on Wednesday and elected Palaniswami as the floor leader.
The letter in this regard was given to the Speaker.
Shanmugam is the lone leader who has not returned to the official group nor quit the party to join the TVK.