AIADMK rebel MLAs to back TVK in Tamil Nadu floor test

Ahead of the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, former Ministers SP Velumani and C.Ve. He called out the leaders of the rebel AIADMK led by Hours after Shanmugam announced support for the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

Earlier, the newly elected Speaker in the Assembly, JCD Prabhakar, allowed Mr. Velumani to also speak soon after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami made a short speech congratulating the Speaker on his election.

Tamil Nadu politics LIVE: Follow updates and highlights from 12 May 2026

In the morning, the rebels declared Mr Velumani the “AIADMK Legislative Party leader”. But Mr. Palaniswami’s supporters said he was the leader of the Legislative Party. Senior leader OS Manian said that the AIADMK led by Mr. Palaniswami will vote against the confidence motion to be presented by the TVK government.

In an interview with HinduThe Speaker acknowledged that he had received separate representations from both parties (on the selection of the leader of the Legislative Assembly Party).

Continuing to reach out to various political party leaders for the second consecutive day, Mr. Vijay went to Mr. Shanmugam’s home in Chennai in the afternoon.

Earlier, Mr. Shanmugam had accused Mr. Palaniswami of trying to form a government with the support of his arch-rival DMK after his tenure fell apart in the Assembly elections. “This was a shock to us,” he told reporters. He said that since the AIADMK was formed to oppose the DMK and its politics have revolved around it for 53 years, any move to collaborate with its rival would lead to the “disappearance of the party”. Therefore, it was decided to expand support for TVK.

Mr Shanmugam and Mr Velumani said the reasons for the party’s failures in consecutive elections needed to be analysed. “We have requested the Secretary-General to convene the general council as soon as possible,” Mr Shanmugam said, adding, “we are no longer in any pre-election alliance”.

Mr. Velumani requested the media not to spread rumors that his group was trying to create division in the party. “Many of our elders have been with the party since the founding of the organization,” he stated.

The group said G. Hari (Tiruttani MLA) has been elected as deputy leader; C. Vijayabhaskar (former Minister), whip; and secretary Kamaraj.

However, AIADMK senior leader OS Manian, a supporter of Mr Palaniswami, accused Mr Shanmugam of spreading misinformation and trying to lure MLAs. While he claimed that all 47 AIADMK MPs had signed a letter electing Mr. Palaniswami as the Legislative Party leader, 26 members were now on his side. “The signatures of all members supporting Mr. Palaniswami prove that the AIADMK remains united. What drives such statements (by the rebels) is their desire to become Ministers or occupy positions of power. What the media says is what they say [rebels] We have 30 MLAs and we have 17, actually we have 26 members,” Mr. Manian told reporters at the Secretariat.

Pointing out that various challenges had been overcome under Mr. Palaniswami’s leadership and the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol had been taken back (frozen following the split after Jayalalithaa’s death), he said that in the election, the NDA got around 1.34 crore votes.

Mr Manian dismissed Mr Shanmugam’s claim about alliance talks with the DMK as “completely baseless”. He claimed that the rebels were motivated by the desire to become Ministers.

Agri SS Krishnamurthy, appointed as whip by Mr. Palaniswami, said, “As per the instructions of the Chief Secretary, we will vote against the Confidence Motion. All members have been informed. Legal action will be taken against anyone who votes against.”