AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday called upon the electorate in Dharapuram (SC) Assembly Constituency to trounce the TVK candidate Sathyabama in the upcoming bypoll, describing her “defection” (from AIADMK) a “treacherous” act.

Campaigning for AIADMK candidate Banumathy at Kannivadi and other locations, Mr. Palaniswami said the party cadre were aghast at the “treacherous act” and would teach a fitting lesson to the TVK candidate for “murdering democracy”.

Describing TVK leader C. Joseph Vijay as a “costly Chief Minister”, he questioned the State government’s rationale behind borrowing ₹1,200 crore to construct a new Assembly Complex at the cost of the poor, and spending as much as ₹5 crore for the CM’s visit to the Mettur dam for water release.

The TVK’s dream of subsuming AIADMK would never materialise, Mr. Palaniswami said. “I joined AIADMK even before you were born,” Mr . Palaniswami told Mr. Vijay.

Slamming the government for not fulfilling the promise to waive crop loans completely, Mr. Palaniswami claimed that the AIADMK government had, under his Chief Ministership, waived crop loans amounting to ₹15,110 crore. Failure to raise old age pension has caused discontent, he said.

The TVK leader’s act of “fleeing” Karur after the stampede claimed 41 lives can never be condoned, he said.

The Communist parties are not convinced of the TVK government’s governance capability, Mr.Palaniswami said, and also questioned the real intent behind the Chief Minister’s visit to London recently.

All is not well in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after the recent election drubbing in Tamil Nadu, with the newly elected legislators sharply divided on electing their Legislature Party leader. While one group supports party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a larger group is throwing its weight behind former Minister S.P. Velumani.

On Monday, after the swearing-in of all the legislators was over, a letter, purportedly signed by a group of legislators of the AIADMK stating that Mr. Palaniswami had been elected the Leader of the Legislature Party, was submitted to the Pro-tem Speaker M.V. Karuppaiah at his chamber. As per media reports, the general secretary got the backing of 17 of the 47 MLAs belonging to the AIADMK, though a member of the Palaniswami camp claimed it was 24. Former Handlooms Minister O.S. Manian, who handed over the letter to the Pro-tem Speaker, told The Hindu that he was not aware of the contents of the letter. “I did what I was asked to do,” he observed.

However, around 6 p.m., former Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam, accompanied by Mr. Velumani and many other former Ministers, including Natham R. Viswanathan and R. Kamaraj, came to the office of the Pro-tem Speaker and presented a letter claiming the support of 30 MLAs for the leadership of Mr. Velumani.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Palaniswami denied reports that the party was heading towards a split.

The churning in the AIADMK was also evident in the Assembly, going by the reception provided by the party legislators to Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Velumani. Unlike on previous occasions in the last five years when Mr. Palaniswami was accompanied by a large contingent of his colleagues while entering the Assembly premises, only a handful of MLAs escorted him this time. Mr. Velumani, who served as the Local Administration Minister in the Palaniswami Cabinet and seen invariably with the former in the past, came later to the Assembly premises along with former Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar.

Likewise, when the turn came for the former Chief Minister and Mr. Velumani to be sworn in as MLAs, the reception given to them by their colleagues, in the form of thumping of desks, was similar. The message was clear: the challenge to Mr. Palaniswami’s leadership was quite open.

In the past four days, the residence of Mr. Shanmugam on Karpagam Avenue, near Foreshore Estate, had become the centre of activity in the AIADMK, with a large number of MLAs and other office-bearers attending discussions on their future course of action. Mr. Shanmugam, who did not attend the oath-taking event in the morning, went to the Assembly around 3.15 p.m. and was sworn in as an MLA. The rebel MLAs also had a meeting at a guesthouse near Mr. Shanmugam’s house.

About two years ago, when the party had suffered a drubbing in the Lok Sabha election, a delegation of six leaders, including Mr. Shanmugam, Mr. Velumani and Mr. Viswanathan, had sought to impress upon Mr. Palaniswami that there should be reconciliation with former party leaders such as V.K. Sasikala.