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AIADMK sees reconciliation as Velumani led rebel MLAs who backed Vijay and TVK rejoin party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, easing rift fears in Tamil Nadu politics

AIADMK supremo Edappadi K Palaniswami suffered a major setback after a rebel camp joined hands with the TVK-led government. (PTI/File)
A political reconciliation has taken place inside All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after rebel MLAs who had recently backed Vijay and his party TVK reunited with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. Velumani-led rebel camp MLAs meet party chief Palaniswami.
The development comes just days after the MLAs publicly expressed support for Vijay’s political rise, triggering speculation over possible cracks inside the AIADMK ahead of the changing political landscape in Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday, C Ve Shanmugam and SP Velumani had resigned from the Assembly and later joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
Earlier, three rebel AIADMK legislators – Maragatham Kumaravel, P Sathyabama and S Jayakumar – had resigned from the Assembly and formally joined Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s TVK.
The rebel faction had earlier defied the AIADMK whip and voted in favour of the TVK government, triggering serious turmoil inside the opposition party.
AIADMK accused the ruling TVK of encouraging defections and engaging in “horse-trading” to strengthen its numbers in the Assembly.
Senior AIADMK leader and party whip Agri SS Krishnamurthy said the Speaker should not have accepted the resignations because the party’s petition seeking disqualification of 25 rebel MLAs under the anti-defection law is still pending.
The latest political developments have also created unease among some parties supporting the TVK government in Tamil Nadu. S Jothimani publicly expressed concern over alleged “horse-trading” and warned against applying different political standards in Tamil Nadu compared to other states.
Chennai [Madras], India, India
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