<p>Chennai: Plunging the party into yet another crisis, a majority of the newly elected AIADMK MLAs have revolted against their general secretary <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/edappadi-k-palaniswami">Edappadi K Palaniswami</a> by refusing to elect him as the Legislature Party leader. These MLAs want the AIADMK to support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and not sit in opposition benches in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. </p><p>This is the fourth rebellion in the AIADMK since Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016 – the first and third were spearheaded by O Panneerselvam, while the second was led by T T V Dhinakaran.</p><p>About 30 MLAs led by senior leaders C Ve Shanmugam, S P Velumani, and C Vijayabaskar have refused to endorse Palaniswami as their leader and want him to step down from his position, taking moral responsibility for successive electoral defeats – the AIADMK has not won an election since J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. </p>.'Everything going well, no one can break AIADMK': Party MLA.<p>The rebellion came out in the open on Monday when legislators owing allegiance to EPS and the rebel MLAs came to the Assembly on its first day separately. During the day, the two groups met the pro-term speaker and handed over letters appointing EPS and Velumani as their leaders. </p><p>Velumani was one of the close confidantes of EPS ever since he became the CM in 2017.</p><p>The rebel group is also backed by legislator Leema Rose, wife of lottery baron Santiago Martin and mother-in-law of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/tvk">TVK</a> minister Aadhav Arjuna. They want either Velumani or Shanmugam to lead the AIADMK legislators so that they can support the new government, either from outside or by joining the ministry. </p><p>If the MLAs want to break away and support TVK, they need to muster two numbers more so that they don’t attract disqualification. They will be the cynosure of all eyes on Tuesday when Vijay seeks trust vote in the Assembly – the MLAs might abstain from the House in support of the TVK. </p><p>It is not clear whether Vijay will accept the support of the breakaway faction, if it happens, as it will embarrass his allies Congress, Left, and VCK. </p><p>Also, the MLAs want to usher in a new generation of leadership with Shanmugam, Velumani, and Vijayabaskar at the helm. They feel such an arrangement will augur well for the party as they belong to three dominant communities, Vanniyars, Gounders, and Mukulathors. </p>.Is this the end for AIADMK in Tamil Nadu?.<p>“He (EPS) has to take moral responsibility and resign. He should make way for others. The party needs fresh blood. We need power without which we will become irrelevant. We cannot even do opposition politics since DMK is a master in that subject,” a rebel MLA told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>Palaniswami has been under pressure from the rebel legislators to quit and make way for other leaders to take over the AIADMK ever since the party was relegated to the third position in the elections, but he continues to resist their demand. </p><p>It was to convince and win the rebel legislators over that Palaniswami drove to a Puducherry resort where they were lodged last week but in vain. The MLAs feel that allying with TVK was the only way to keep the AIADMK relevant in politics as the party cannot sit behind the DMK in opposition benches in the Assembly. </p><p>The legislators also feel that since Vijay has snatched the anti-DMK politics from the AIADMK, the party should find new ideas to be relevant. </p>
<p>Chennai: Plunging the party into yet another crisis, a majority of the newly elected AIADMK MLAs have revolted against their general secretary <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/edappadi-k-palaniswami">Edappadi K Palaniswami</a> by refusing to elect him as the Legislature Party leader. These MLAs want the AIADMK to support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and not sit in opposition benches in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. </p><p>This is the fourth rebellion in the AIADMK since Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016 – the first and third were spearheaded by O Panneerselvam, while the second was led by T T V Dhinakaran.</p><p>About 30 MLAs led by senior leaders C Ve Shanmugam, S P Velumani, and C Vijayabaskar have refused to endorse Palaniswami as their leader and want him to step down from his position, taking moral responsibility for successive electoral defeats – the AIADMK has not won an election since J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. </p>.'Everything going well, no one can break AIADMK': Party MLA.<p>The rebellion came out in the open on Monday when legislators owing allegiance to EPS and the rebel MLAs came to the Assembly on its first day separately. During the day, the two groups met the pro-term speaker and handed over letters appointing EPS and Velumani as their leaders. </p><p>Velumani was one of the close confidantes of EPS ever since he became the CM in 2017.</p><p>The rebel group is also backed by legislator Leema Rose, wife of lottery baron Santiago Martin and mother-in-law of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/tvk">TVK</a> minister Aadhav Arjuna. They want either Velumani or Shanmugam to lead the AIADMK legislators so that they can support the new government, either from outside or by joining the ministry. </p><p>If the MLAs want to break away and support TVK, they need to muster two numbers more so that they don’t attract disqualification. They will be the cynosure of all eyes on Tuesday when Vijay seeks trust vote in the Assembly – the MLAs might abstain from the House in support of the TVK. </p><p>It is not clear whether Vijay will accept the support of the breakaway faction, if it happens, as it will embarrass his allies Congress, Left, and VCK. </p><p>Also, the MLAs want to usher in a new generation of leadership with Shanmugam, Velumani, and Vijayabaskar at the helm. They feel such an arrangement will augur well for the party as they belong to three dominant communities, Vanniyars, Gounders, and Mukulathors. </p>.Is this the end for AIADMK in Tamil Nadu?.<p>“He (EPS) has to take moral responsibility and resign. He should make way for others. The party needs fresh blood. We need power without which we will become irrelevant. We cannot even do opposition politics since DMK is a master in that subject,” a rebel MLA told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>Palaniswami has been under pressure from the rebel legislators to quit and make way for other leaders to take over the AIADMK ever since the party was relegated to the third position in the elections, but he continues to resist their demand. </p><p>It was to convince and win the rebel legislators over that Palaniswami drove to a Puducherry resort where they were lodged last week but in vain. The MLAs feel that allying with TVK was the only way to keep the AIADMK relevant in politics as the party cannot sit behind the DMK in opposition benches in the Assembly. </p><p>The legislators also feel that since Vijay has snatched the anti-DMK politics from the AIADMK, the party should find new ideas to be relevant. </p>