Chennai: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Saturday submitted a formal petition to Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar urging a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the horse-trading allegations it has levelled against the Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
The AIADMK has accused the ruling party of indulging in horse-trading, claiming that the party engaged in the practice of illegally luring legislators with money or other inducements to switch parties.
Former Minister and the party whip S.S. Krishnamoorthy, along with Rajya Sabha MP M. Dhanapal met the Governor Saturday to hand over the petition.
The accusation comes after the resignation of four MLAs from AIADMK, who subsequently joined the TVK last week. The party has claimed that the timing of these resignations is highly suspicious, especially since the TVK does not hold a legislative majority in the assembly by itself.
The party has alleged that there were a large amount of monetary transactions involved in the trading of MLAs, which require investigation.
The AIADMK had previously submitted a memorandum to the Governor regarding AIADMK legislators allegedly voting in favour of the TVK in the floor test in the assembly.
Addressing media persons after submitting the petition, Krishnamoorthy reiterated the party’s demand for a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the resignations. “The party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had given the complaint to stop the TVK government from purchasing AIADMK MLAs. The secretariat is being treated as the TVK party office. We have urged the Governor to take immediate action,” he said.
Earlier, in an earlier post on X, MP Dhanapal questioned the background of the four legislators and called for a CBI inquiry to protect democratic processes. He also urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the alleged financial dealings. The AIADMK has consistently accused the TVK of such practices.
த வெ க விற்கு தனி மெஜாரிட்டி இல்லாத சூழலில், அண்ணா திமுக வை உடைக்க நினைத்தும் முடியாத நிலையில், பதவியேற்ற உடனே ராஜினாமா செய்த நான்கு சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள் பின்னணியை ஆராய வேண்டும். மிகப்பெரிய அளவில் பணப் பரிமாற்றம் நடைபெற்றிருப்பதாக தகவல். ஜனநாயகத்தை காக்க மத்திய அரசு சிபிஐ…
— Dr M Dhanapal MP 🇮🇳 (@dr_dhanapal_mp) May 28, 2026
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.A. Sengottaiyan denied the allegations. Talking to reporters after former AIADMK MLA S. Jayakumar joined TVK Saturday, Sengottaiayan said, “We will respond to these allegations in the assembly. Our party had no need to resort to inducements to attract leaders from other parties and we have won on our strength. AIADMK leaders resigned from their posts before joining the TVK.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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