The AIADMK rebels, including former Ministers S.P. Velumani, P. Thangamani, and K.P. Anbalagan, have conveyed to party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami their unwillingness to accept the new posts assigned to them.
After the dissidents went against the party’s stand to oppose the vote of confidence motion moved by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the Assembly on May 13, Mr. Palaniswami sacked 26 district secretaries. A few days later, he eased out more district secretaries from their post. On June 25, the general secretary did not restore the post of district secretary to any of the deposed functionaries, but offered them other positions. Mr. Velumani and another senior rebel, Natham R. Viswanathan, were made deputy general secretaries. At the same time, former Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam, a bitter critic of Mr. Palaniswami, was not given any post. Mr. Velumani, while addressing a meeting in Coimbatore last Sunday, wondered how he would accept the position when many of his colleagues had not been “properly accommodated” in the organisation.
In a letter jointly signed, nine rebels accused Mr. Palaniswami of “not respecting” what was agreed between them at the time of truce in May, when the two MLA camps withdrew their complaints against each other for disqualification. Their communication, dated June 30, said the present state of affairs had arisen because of Mr. Palaniswami’s move to form a government with the DMK’s help. It would not have occurred if he had decided to remain an Opposition party, the letter added. Mr. Viswanathan; former Ministers K.C. Veeramani and P. Balakrishna Reddy; and former secretaries of the Tenkasi (north), Ranipet (west) and Cuddalore (west) units C. Krishnamurali, S.M. Sukumar, and A. Arunmozhithevan were the other signatories. Mr. Shanmugam was not a part of this group of rebels.
Mr. Thangamani and Mr. Anbalagan, who were the party’s district secretaries of the Namakkal and Dharmapuri units till the revolt and held the portfolios of Electricity and Higher Education in the previous AIADMK regime (2016-21), were made organisation secretaries in the latest action of the party general secrertary.
They told The Hindu on Wednesday they would prefer to remain “ordinary volunteers” of the party. Asked whether they would switch over to the TVK or the DMK, they emphatically said they would not leave the organisation, and clarified that they were not against the party leadership.
The former Electricity Minister recalled that when the factions led by Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa came together in February 1989 and the groups headed by O. Panneerselvam (now in the DMK) and Mr Palaniswami patched up in August-September 2017, those who held positions in the party were given back their posts. “Let me make one point clear: We are not against the party leadership. EPS [Mr Palaniswami] is our general secretary,” he observed.
Was the decision not to accept the new position made out of Mr Palaniswami not giving back the post of district secretary? “No” was the answer of Mr Anbalagan. “The position given to me is no recognition of my work to the party,” he added.
Meanwhile, a few supporters of Mr. Palaniswami wondered how the general secretary could make the rebels district secretaries again. They contended that if their leader had conceded the demand of the dissidents, his disciplinary actions in future would not carry any weight. One of them pointed out that the rebels had not only wanted the general council to be convened but also carried out a drive to collect signatures of sections of members of the council.
Women’s wing meet
Meanwhile, the AIADMK’s women wing resolved to work hard for the party’s success in the forthcoming by-elections to several Assembly constituencies and the local bodies’ polls. This followed the advice of Mr. Palaniswami, who chaired the meeting at the headquarters in Chennai, to members of the wing, encouraging them to strengthen the organisation and rope in more women.
Briefing journalists of the deliberations of the meeting, B. Valarmathi, secretary of the women’s wing and former Minister, contended that the participation of “a large number of women” at the meeting was a demonstration of the strength of the party among women.
To a question how she viewed the act of many leaders deserting the organisation, Ms Valarmathi replied that similar events happened when the party had suffered electoral setbacks under the leadership of M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. Kaliammal, who joined the party in March after being in the Naam Tamilar Katchi, said there had been cases of many parties undergoing churning, fragmentation and mergers. “But the reason why we have gathered today is to discuss how to carry forward the party. We are keen on projecting positive vibes,” she observed, adding that Mr Palaniswami would shortly unveil a plan to strengthen the party in every district.
However, the general secretary left the party office, without replying to the journalists’ questions on the recent developments concerning the AIADMK.
On the perception that the youth had rallied behind the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Ms Kaliammal contended that if this had been so, the ruling party should have secured more than 50% of votes polled with an absolute majority. “Compared to the TVK’s vote share of 35%, the collective voteshare of the DMK and the AIADMK was about 45%, excluding their allies’ figures. Besides, the TVK did not get any seat in many districts. Take the case of the Cauvery delta – Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai, where the party did not win in any constituency. Do you mean to say that these districts have no youth?,” she asked.
In a release, Mr Palaniswami announced that former Minister, S. Valarmathi, had been eased out of the post of organisation secretary.
Published – July 02, 2026 12:40 am IST
