A faction of the AIADMK – led by CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani – extended support Tuesday to Tamil Nadu’s ruling coalition headed by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay‘s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
Shanmugam told reporters he plans to meet the chief minister later today.
He pointed to electoral defeats suffered by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over the past decade – three at the hands of arch-rivals Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and a fourth, last month, inflicted by the TVK – as reason for the switch.
“We need to revive the party… must discuss its future,” he told the press, also calling out AIADMK boss and ex-chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for having considered an alliance with the DMK – a politically unprecedented partnership, one that would have up-ended decades of fierce, sometimes violent, rivalry – to prevent the TVK from establishing its government.
“We founded this party against the DMK. For 53 years, our politics was against the DMK. Given this, a proposal suggesting an AIADMK government be formed with the DMK support (was rejected by a) majority of our members.If we formed such an alliance, AIADMK would not exist,” he explained.
Shanmugam also said he had no intention of splitting the AIADMK, which sets up a dramatic battle with its core leadership – specifically EPS, as Palaniswami is called – who had earlier refused the rebel faction’s call to ally with Vijay and the TVK.
“We currently stand without any alliance… our focus must be on revitalising and strengthening our party. We ultimately decided to extend our support to the TVK, which emerged victorious,” Shanmugam said.
Last week there was a scare for EPS after it emerged some of his flock was holed up at a Puducherry resort over demands he party back the TVK. Leaders loyal to him dismissed talk of a rebellion and claimed the move was to prevent TVK poaching.
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Vijay’s party secured a dominant win in the election with 108 of the state’s 234 seats, but fell 10 short of majority. Five of those were supplied by the Congress but there was much drama in securing the remaining, with the Shanmugam-led AIADMK faction pushing to fill that gap.
Eventually four seats from two Left parties and two more from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi pushed the TVK past the finish line, but left its future uncertain given all three of its newfound allies – the Congress, the Left, and the VCK – are long-time DMK allies.