AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami addresses mediators before a rally in Chennai on Wednesday (May 13, 2026). | Photo credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday said there were no talks with any party other than the alliance partners to form the government after the Assembly elections produced a fragmented mandate.
Against rebel leader C.Ve. Shanmugam’s claim alleged that rebel AIADMK MLAs, including some former ministers, voted for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government’s confidence motion, which was driven by a “desire for ministerial posts”.
After 25 AIADMK MLAs voted in favor of the motion, Mr. Palaniswami addressed reporters outside the assembly. He said the support of the rebel AIADMK MLAs was secured by the promise of six berths in the cabinet and chairmanship of various councils.
“The AIADMK MLAs convened and elected me as the head of the legislative party. Then officials including the whip were appointed. Former Agri Minister SS Krishnamurthy was appointed as the whip. He asked all AIADMK MLAs to vote against the motion. However, the TVK government promised AIADMK members six ministries and 10 board posts on the chairman’s proposal.
“Some ex-ministers in their desire to become ministers have led fellow MLAs astray. This is against law and justice. When a chief minister says he will ensure a clean government, he must be clean in all respects. There are differences of opinion in the party. How fair is it to visit the houses of one faction for this? This is a wrong precedent,” the former chief minister remarked.
Asked if talks were held with the DMK to form the government, Mr. Palaniswami said, “There have been no talks with any party other than the alliance partners. There has definitely not been with the DMK.”
Regarding the claim that the rebel group has 25 members, he said: “You have to look at who controls the party. Court decisions are in line with that principle.”
He said he followed the recommendations of district secretaries while selecting candidates for the election.
Mr. Palaniswami pointed out that TVK has only 106 MLAs and nearly 66% voters voted against the party.
Published – 13 May 2026 21:11 IST
