Chennai: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) finds himself isolated and politically cornered, with a powerful bloc of 30 of the party’s 47 newly elected MLAs on Tuesday openly revolting against his leadership.
This group went on to elect a parallel legislative party leader, and declare outside support to Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, dealing a sharp blow to his authority.
The dramatic rebellion has pushed the AIADMK to the edge, leaving EPS with the support of barely 17 MLAs and raising serious doubts about his ability to survive as the party general secretary.
With uncertainty looming over the future of the party and his role, he must now choose either confronting the rebels through a general council meeting, launching legal battles to save the party symbol, attempting a last-ditch reconciliation, or risk being reduced to heading a rump faction with little relevance in Tamil Nadu politics.
The AIADMK rebellion reflects years of internal discontent, repeated electoral defeats under EPS, alienation of district-level leaders, and a failure to project a united front or charismatic mass appeal after the loss of its iconic leaders. The rebels’ rejection of any tie-up with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and their acceptance of the people’s mandate for the TVK have directly strengthened Vijay’s position and weakened his hold, analysts said.
The rebellion
Led by senior figures C.V. Shanmugam and S.P. Velumani, the rebel bloc announced that it would extend outside support to the TVK government ahead of the floor test on 13 May. They also elected Velumani as the Leader of the AIADMK Legislative Party, directly challenging EPS’s authority. EPS retains the backing of only about 17 MLAs.
The party leaders cited repeated electoral defeats under his leadership, with the latest being the third-place finish with just 47 seats in the Tamil Nadu polls. Shanmugam rejected any move to align with the DMK to form a government, asserting that such a pact would destroy the AIADMK’s 53-year-old anti-DMK identity. The faction, however, has not clarified on their stand with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The disquiet became visible Monday when AIADMK MLAs arrived at the Assembly in two separate groups for oath-taking, submitting competing letters to the pro-tem Speaker over the choice of Legislature Party leader.
On the other hand, EPS has been trying to consolidate his position and travelled to Puducherry to hold a meeting with the MLAs at a resort. He also held discussions with district secretaries on Sunday, and urged unity with AIADMK leaders, including Jayakumar and Rose Martin, hinting at “good news”.
Valarmathi and Kovai Sathyan were among leaders who confirmed meeting EPS at his residence to discuss the post-poll strategies. However, sources indicate that more than half the district secretaries may lean against EPS. His strategy appears to involve buying time, maintaining loyalty among a core group, and resisting immediate steps on leadership change, they say.
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Not the first rebellion
This is not the first time EPS is facing a crisis in the party since the death of former party supremo Jayalalithaa in 2016. The splits involving Sasikala and O. Panneerselvam (OPS) led to the former forming a new party, and the latter joining the DMK.
After Jayalalithaa’s death, senior leaders had supported Sasikala to formally take over as chief minister. However, she was convicted in a disproportionate assets case and sent to prison in February 2017.
Before her imprisonment, OPS claimed that he was forced to resign and sat in protest at Jayalalithaa’s memorial in Chennai. Later, EPS was backed by the Sasikala camp and eventually he became the chief minister in 2017.
Sasikala, in a post on X on Tuesday, hinted that it was due to EPS that the AIADMK has slipped to the third place in Tamil Nadu.
“The truth hidden in this is that the victory that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has achieved today could have been achieved by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,” she wrote originally in Tamil.
“Even though the situation for that existed, due to the self-interest of a few individuals and their traitorous mindset, the movement started by the Revolutionary Leader and nurtured by the Revolutionary Leader Amma has now fallen into this unfortunate state. Do not forget the truth that those who declared themselves as leaders are the reason why the people have delivered this verdict today, because they joined hands with DMK in this election.”
புரட்சித்தலைவரால் ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்டு, புரட்சித்தலைவி அம்மா அவர்களால் வளர்த்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட இயக்கம் தான் அனைத்திந்திய அண்ணா திராவிட முன்னேற்றக் கழகம். இந்தியாவிலேயே மூன்றாவது பெரிய கட்சியாக இருந்த நிலையில் இன்றைக்கு தமிழக சட்டமன்ற தேர்தலில் மூன்றாம் நிலைக்கு தள்ளப்பட்டு முற்றிலும்…
— V K Sasikala (@AmmavinVazhi) May 12, 2026
She said that the MLAs have openly said that the talks with the DMK have caused immense pain to all party workers. “The time has come for the AIADMK administrators to realise the mistakes they have made so far and conduct a self-examination. It is only by everyone uniting and acting together that it will benefit the movement, the party workers, and the people of Tamil Nadu. At least now, accept the principle that united we thrive,” Jayalithaa’s former aide asserted.
Loss of confidence
A small group of loyalists, including leaders like R.B. Udhayakumar and O.S. Manian, continues to stand by Edappadi, but the majority of the legislative wing has shifted.
On Tuesday, AIADMK MLA Thalavai N. Sundaram accused Shanmugam of giving false statements. “They want a berth with the TVK. We will take legal action if the MLAs split. We met the Speaker regarding many issues and we have given a list of MLAs to him,” he told the media.
With a lack of clarity on the leader of the Legislative Party for AIADMK, the legal course of action remains unclear.
“If the whip was in the favour of EPS, he can go ahead with legal action. However, it is completely dependent on the Speaker on who he accepts as the leader of the Legislative Party,” says political analyst Sunil Kumar.
“The law favours EPS as of now because the MLAs in the Shanmugam faction are less than two-thirds of the legislative wing members. In order to avoid anti-defection law, a party may merge with another if at least two-thirds of the legislative wing agrees to the merger, preventing disqualification.”
The rebellion, he says, reflects a deeper loss of confidence in EPS’s ability to revive the party. The calls for EPS to step down has only grown louder within the party after four successive poll setbacks.
Sunil also sees the changing influence of AIADMK leaders across various belts in Tamil Nadu.
“CV Shanmugam holds more than 30 MLAs especially from the North Tamil Nadu, Vanniyar community and OBC community. Earlier, EPS had more hold in western belt but they didn’t get many seats there, instead Northern districts got the AIADMK more seats. Similarly, S.P. Velumani, who comes from the Vellalar community, same as EPS, has developed a unique identity in Coimbatore and even western districts. The Shanmugam faction may want to have more MLAs on their side,” he adds.
Rise of TVK
The rise of TVK is also seen as a sign of AIADMK’s downfall as it positioned Vijay above the party as the alternative to DMK’s M.K.Stalin, which was not the case earlier.
Political analyst Ravindran Thuraisamy says that EPS has set himself as a single leader. “In 2026, he was the alternative to Stalin, but Vijay has occupied the first position while the AIADMK being in the third place is what would hurt them. They will slip to the third position, where they only remain an alternative similar to (Naam Tamilar Katchi chief) Seeman,” he says.
However, he says that the poor performance is not only because of EPS but taking the AIADMK towards victory in any election would be a challenge for any other party leader.
“There is no guarantee of victory under anyone else in the AIADMK. EPS claims that he got 20 percent votes because of his influence and that cannot be denied. He claims that votes are because of his leadership. Only an election can make it clear if he is right or not,” Thuraisamy says.
However, the single leadership of EPS without considering the unity and contribution of district level workers and functionaries is also responsible for the retaliation, he adds. Moreover, the party that enjoyed the mass appeal due to the popular cinema stars as leaders (read, M.G.Ramachandran ‘MGR’ and Jayalalithaa), lost the support.
Analyst Sunil Kumar tells ThePrint that the MLAs are of the opinion that EPS did not consider the district secretaries and others who were holding the power. Historically, the AIADMK leadership was based on cinematic charisma in the past but it is not the same now with EPS.
“He showed himself as the party general secretary but he could not hold the power as the previous leaders. In the last four elections, the leaders saw the diminishing of votes and finally voicing out the concerns.”
In such a situation, EPS’s next steps can determine not just his own political survival but the future of the party he has led for years. The end of bipolarity of the Dravidian parties seems to be ending if the AIADMK is reduced to a minor ally of TVK, say political watchers.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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