AIADMK faces fresh trouble as 3 MLAs quit party and join Vijay’s TVK

PTC Web Desk: The AIADMK suffered another setback on Monday after three of its MLAs resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly and joined Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK party.

The MLAs, Maragatham Kumaravel, Jayakumar and Sathyabama, submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar, who accepted them. All three leaders were earlier part of the rebel group within the AIADMK that had extended support to the ruling TVK government after the Assembly elections.

Kumaravel had won from Maduranthakam, while Sathyabama and Jayakumar were elected from Dharapuram and Perundurai, respectively. The Dharapuram and Perundurai seats are considered strong areas for the AIADMK in western Tamil Nadu. After resigning, the three MLAs met TVK minister Aadhav Arjuna.

Earlier this month, 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs had voted in favour of the TVK government during the floor test, going against the party leadership led by Edappadi K Palaniswami.

However, five rebel MLAs later returned to the AIADMK camp, reducing the strength of the rebel group. With the latest resignations, the number of MLAs in the rebel faction has now dropped further.

In the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the AIADMK won 47 seats, while TVK emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats. TVK later formed the government with support from Congress, IUML, VCK and Left parties.

Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leader SP Velumani recently said that there was no plan to split the party and reaffirmed support for Palaniswami’s leadership. He also said the party’s main goal was to bring back the “Amma rule” associated with former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.