CHENNAI: The rebellion within the AIADMK intensified on Tuesday, with senior leaders aligned against party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announcing their decision to extend support to the government headed by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, while also alleging that Palaniswami had proposed forming a government with the support of the DMK.
Addressing reporters after consultations with rebel MLAs at his residence, senior AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam said the proposal placed before them was that the AIADMK could secure the support of the DMK to elect Palaniswami as Chief Minister.
“AIADMK was founded to oppose the DMK and has carried out politics against it for more than five decades. If the AIADMK aligns with the DMK, the party itself will cease to exist,” he said, adding that legislators were “shocked” by the suggestion and refused to accept it.
Shanmugam said a meeting of the AIADMK legislature party was subsequently convened in which resolutions were adopted acknowledging the party’s defeat in the recent Assembly election as part of the NDA alliance. He said the legislators resolved that the AIADMK should function independently and focus on rebuilding the organisation.
He said the legislature party had also formally resolved to support the TVK government in the Assembly.
According to him, SP Velumani was elected leader of the AIADMK legislature party, while former Minister C Vijayabaskar was chosen as whip, MLA Hari as deputy leader and former Minister R. Kamaraj as secretary. Letters regarding the changes had been submitted to the pro-tem Speaker, he added.
Shanmugam maintained that the dissident camp had no intention of splitting the party and said the AIADMK had suffered a series of electoral setbacks that required collective introspection.
“There is no personal blame against anyone. We all share responsibility for the defeats. The movement founded by MGR and strengthened by Jayalalithaa must be protected and revived,” he said.
He urged Palaniswami to convene the party’s general council at the earliest to discuss the reasons for the repeated defeats and arrive at corrective measures.
Backing the demand, Velumani rejected allegations that the rebel faction was attempting to break the AIADMK.
“We have no intention of weakening the party founded by MGR. But repeated defeats have raised serious questions that need to be addressed through healthy discussions in the general council,” he said.
Velumani said the AIADMK had missed opportunities to secure victories in successive elections despite favourable political conditions, and called for collective efforts to restore the party and bring back “Amma’s rule” in the State.