AIADMK expels 25 MLAs for backing Vijay in trust vote

Chennai: The AIADMK plunged into a major internal crisis after 25 of its MLAs voted in favour of Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK government during the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Within hours of the confidence motion, the party expelled 29 leaders, including senior figures accused of defying the official stand taken by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Among those removed from the party were former ministers SP Velumani, CVe Shanmugam, R Kamaraj, C Vijayabaskar and P Thangamani. The crackdown came after the rebel faction openly backed Vijay in the Assembly despite clear instructions from the Palaniswami camp to oppose the TVK government during the floor test.

Ahead of the vote, Palaniswami had publicly declared that no AIADMK MLA would support TVK. However, the rebellion inside the party became visible when MLAs crossed over during the trust vote and backed Vijay’s government. Palaniswami later alleged that money had been distributed to MLAs to secure support for the new government.

The rebellion dramatically strengthened Vijay’s numbers in the 234-member Assembly. TVK had originally won 108 seats in the election, but its strength dropped to 107 after Vijay resigned from one of the two constituencies he had contested. With support from Congress, Left parties and the Muslim League already in place, the backing of rebel AIADMK MLAs pushed the government comfortably past the majority mark.

Vijay ultimately secured the support of 144 MLAs in the Assembly, proving his majority on the floor of the House. The developments have now triggered an open split inside the AIADMK, with the party effectively divided between the Palaniswami faction and the rival Shanmugam-Velumani camp that sided with Vijay during the crucial vote.