C. Ve. Shanmugam | Photo credit: SR RAGHUNATHAN
The rebel camp in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) seems to be in no mood to push for an early convening of the general council. Although the prominent face of the C.Ve camp. Shanmugam called for an early general council meeting a few days ago, a key leader said: “For now, we are concentrating on resolving the issue of the legislative party as soon as possible.” A group led by party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and the rebel camp petitioned JCD Chairman Prabhakar against each other for violation of the ‘whip’ issued by them. On the day the trust motion moved by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was accepted, the rebel camp of 25 legislators favored the government, while Mr. Palaniswami’s group of 22 MLAs voted against the motion. The leader adds that his camp would like to wait a few weeks for Mr. Palaniswami to respond to the issues they have raised. The rebel camp only “demands” that the reasons for subsequent electoral failures be analyzed in a trite manner. According to Rule 19 (vii), if one fifth of the members of the General Council – approximately 500 members – request the Secretary General to convene a meeting of the Council, they must do so within 30 days. Meanwhile, a section of the media reported that Mr. Palaniswami had advised several functionaries and members of the General Council not to support the call for the General Council. When asked whether the rebel camp will join the TVK regime, its representative answers in the affirmative and expects the ruling party to accommodate “more than five representatives” of the camp in the cabinet.
Published – 16 May 2026 23:48 IST
