Tamil Nadu’s political landscape witnessed another dramatic shift on Monday after three AIADMK legislators resigned from the Assembly and formally aligned themselves with the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by Chief Minister Vijay, deepening the crisis within the opposition party after its disappointing election performance.
The resignations of MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel, Jayakumar and Sathyabama have intensified concerns over growing cracks inside the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam camp headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar accepted the resignations shortly after the legislators submitted their letters at the Secretariat.
The three MLAs later met senior TVK leader and minister Aadhav Arjuna, fuelling speculation that more opposition legislators could switch sides in the coming weeks.
The political development follows recent turbulence within AIADMK, where a section of legislators had openly rebelled against the party leadership after the Assembly election setback. Earlier this month, several rebel MLAs voted in favour of the Vijay-led government during a crucial floor test, despite the party issuing a whip.
The latest resignations are being seen as another setback for Palaniswami, especially because two of the constituencies involved — Dharapuram and Perundurai — are located in the politically significant Kongu belt, long considered a stronghold of the AIADMK.
Maragatham Kumaravel had represented Maduranthakam, Sathyabama won from Dharapuram, while Jayakumar was elected from Perundurai on AIADMK tickets in the recent elections.
The rebel faction within AIADMK had earlier swelled to nearly 25 MLAs backing the TVK government. However, internal divisions among the dissidents later emerged, with several legislators returning to Palaniswami’s camp in recent days.
Senior AIADMK leader SP Velumani recently denied speculation of a formal split in the party and insisted that Palaniswami remained the undisputed leader of the organisation.
Despite receiving outside support from rebel AIADMK legislators, the ruling TVK government has so far avoided offering Cabinet positions to the defectors during the recent ministry reshuffle.
The political upheaval comes months after Vijay’s TVK emerged as the single-largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and later formed the government with support from Congress, Left parties and regional allies.
