Space for reconciliation within the AIADMK

The rebel camp remains steadfast in its demand for an early general council meeting. The image shows rebel leader C. Ve. Shanmugam and SP Velumani at the Secretariat. File. | Photo credit: The Hindu

With the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) not accepting the rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) camp in the government, there is scope for a rapprochement between the dissidents and the group led by general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

A senior leader of the rebels, who include former ministers C.Ve. Shanmugam, SP Velumani and G. Hari say efforts “from the beginning” to bring the two camps together. “There are some intermediaries going on between us. It happened today as well,” the leader notes.

When the TVK regime moved for confidence last week, the rebel camp of 25 legislators supported the government and 22 other AIADMK legislators led by Mr. Palaniswami voted against the regime. The two groups, besides claiming to be a legitimate legislative party, petitioned Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar to initiate disqualification proceedings against each other.

However, the rebel camp remains steadfast in its demand for an early general council meeting, stressing amid reports in sections of the media that 1,400 signatures have been collected. “In addition to analyzing the reasons for electoral failures, we want changes in the decision-making process within the organization. For all these purposes, the general council should discuss the issues,” the leader specifies.

On the issue of not being accepted into the government, the leader says that his group has never publicly made any statement about joining the TVK regime. They learned that no representative of the group was present at the swearing-in ceremony of the day. “No invitation was sent to us,” complains the rebel leader.

State secretary of the party’s agriculture wing and Tiruvannamalai (south) district “Agri” secretary SS Krishnamurthy told The Hindu on Thursday evening, “Our general secretary has issued an open statement (in which rebel leaders were invited for discussion), which is self-explanatory. It is for them to respond.”

Published – 21 May 2026 20:34 IST