<p>Chennai: With Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay shutting the door by not inducting their representatives into his Cabinet, the rebel AIADMK group led by former ministers S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam, which supported the TVK Government during the May 13 Trust Vote, is left with few options.</p><p>As many as 25 MLAs rebelled against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami immediately after the results and voted in favour of the TVK government on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. </p>.Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay reallocates cabinet portfolios: Check out who got what.<p>The group had hoped that Vijay would allot about six to eight Cabinet berths to strengthen his government – the Chief Minister did visit Shanmugam at his office and thanked them for their support.</p><p>The rebel group lost steam quickly with a couple of MLAs shifting their allegiance back to Palaniswami. The rebel group, apparently realising that they have been cold-shouldered by the TVK, did a climbdown by acknowledging Palaniswami’s leadership and maintaining that their only demand was to convene the General Council to discuss the electoral defeat.</p>.Tamil Nadu CM Vijay expands his Cabinet; inducts 23 new Ministers, including two from Congress.<p>On Thursday, the number of MLAs supporting the rebel group also decreased significantly with only about 16 legislators attending a meeting called by Velumani and Shanmugam. </p><p>“The numbers are likely to come down as the MLAs now know the rebel group will not be inducted into the TVK cabinet. They might come back to the AIADMK and accept EPS’ leadership,” a senior leader told DH.</p><p>The MLAs also face disqualification for going against the “whip” by voting in favour of the TVK government if EPS as the leader of the AIADMK insists on it before Speaker J C D Prabhakar. </p><p>Sources told DH that Palaniswami is unlikely to insist on their disqualification since he would come under criticism for bringing down the party’s strength in the Assembly.</p><p>Another leader said the only “sensible” option before the rebel MLAs is to come back to the AIADMK by accepting Palaniswami’s leadership as the rebel group is unlikely to make any headway since they don’t have enough numbers within the party structure to unseat EPS.</p><p>“If someone doesn’t want to come back at all, another option is to resign as MLA and join the TVK, if the party is ready to welcome them,” the leader added. </p><p>If the rebels continue their rebellion, the second leader said, they have to muster a majority in the party’s General Council, which looks unlikely at this juncture.</p>
<p>Chennai: With Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay shutting the door by not inducting their representatives into his Cabinet, the rebel AIADMK group led by former ministers S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam, which supported the TVK Government during the May 13 Trust Vote, is left with few options.</p><p>As many as 25 MLAs rebelled against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami immediately after the results and voted in favour of the TVK government on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. </p>.Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay reallocates cabinet portfolios: Check out who got what.<p>The group had hoped that Vijay would allot about six to eight Cabinet berths to strengthen his government – the Chief Minister did visit Shanmugam at his office and thanked them for their support.</p><p>The rebel group lost steam quickly with a couple of MLAs shifting their allegiance back to Palaniswami. The rebel group, apparently realising that they have been cold-shouldered by the TVK, did a climbdown by acknowledging Palaniswami’s leadership and maintaining that their only demand was to convene the General Council to discuss the electoral defeat.</p>.Tamil Nadu CM Vijay expands his Cabinet; inducts 23 new Ministers, including two from Congress.<p>On Thursday, the number of MLAs supporting the rebel group also decreased significantly with only about 16 legislators attending a meeting called by Velumani and Shanmugam. </p><p>“The numbers are likely to come down as the MLAs now know the rebel group will not be inducted into the TVK cabinet. They might come back to the AIADMK and accept EPS’ leadership,” a senior leader told DH.</p><p>The MLAs also face disqualification for going against the “whip” by voting in favour of the TVK government if EPS as the leader of the AIADMK insists on it before Speaker J C D Prabhakar. </p><p>Sources told DH that Palaniswami is unlikely to insist on their disqualification since he would come under criticism for bringing down the party’s strength in the Assembly.</p><p>Another leader said the only “sensible” option before the rebel MLAs is to come back to the AIADMK by accepting Palaniswami’s leadership as the rebel group is unlikely to make any headway since they don’t have enough numbers within the party structure to unseat EPS.</p><p>“If someone doesn’t want to come back at all, another option is to resign as MLA and join the TVK, if the party is ready to welcome them,” the leader added. </p><p>If the rebels continue their rebellion, the second leader said, they have to muster a majority in the party’s General Council, which looks unlikely at this juncture.</p>