Palaniswami vs Velumani: AIADMK MLAs divided over floor leader

Chennai: The rift in the AIADMK widened on Monday with the party legislators divided into two groups and seeking to project Edappadi K Palaniswami and S P Velumani as the party's floor leaders.

The differences are visible when the newly elected members of the AIADMK came to the first session of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu on Monday

A group of AIADMK MLAs led by former minister C Ve Shanmugam submitted a letter to Pro-tem Speaker M V Karuppaiah urging him to declare another former minister S P Velumani as the AIADMK legislature party leader.

Another group of MLAs, which included former state minister N Thalavai Sundaram requested Karuppaiah to announce party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami as the legislature party leader.

"You have waited so far. Please wait for some more time. Everything will be clear," Shanmugam later told reporters declining to comment on the speculation of a "rebel" against the party's present leadership following the AIADMK's defeat in the Assembly election.

Having contested 167 out of 234 constituencies, the party was able to secure only 47 seats.

With all the political parties having already elected their respective legislative party leaders, the AIADMK is yet to choose its floor leader due to the rift within the party.

The internal fight could be visible as the AIADMK legislators came to the Assembly in two groups, one headed by Velumani and another led by Palaniswami.

Sources said that the Sundaram-led group that supports Palaniswami consisted of 17 MLAs, while the rebel group that supports Velumani as floor leader has the backing of 30 MLAs.

According to AIADMK sources, while one section of the party strongly opposed extending support to the TVK in government formation, another faction advocated providing outside support to the Vijay-led party.

A few rebel faction MLAs also demanded that Palaniswami step down following the party's poor electoral performance. The feud between the AIADMK leaders came to the limelight when rebel group MLAs, including Velumani and Shanmugam, skipped the meetings chaired by Palaniswami soon after the poll debacle.

Party insiders said Shanmugam, Velumani and their supporters have shown interest in backing the TVK.

"There is a clear split within the party. Many MLAs want a change in leadership. If Palaniswami continues as a leader, there is a possibility of some MLAs extending support to the TVK," said former AIADMK leader K C Palanisamy.

He further said that Palaniswami should "voluntarily step down" from the party's top post so that it can reunite and face the next election.

Political analyst Sathyalaya Ramakrishnan said misunderstandings among the AIADMK leaders should be resolved through dialogue and unity. "I feel till now the party is united since all the AIADMK MLAs were sitting together in the Assembly. The senior leaders of the AIADMK must ensure that there is no split in the party".

The party's internal turmoil emerged at a tough period for the AIADMK, which had successive electoral defeats, including the 2019 parliament election, the 2021 Assembly election, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the 2021 Assembly election. In addition, the party also lost the Erode by-election in 2025.