AIADMK ex-MP joins rival DMK
Maitreyan had previously left the AIADMK and joined BJP in 2023 – where he began his political career – after Jayalalithaa’s death and went back to the EPS-led party in 2024
Three-time Rajya Sabha member MP V Maitreyan on Wednesday quit AIADMK and joined the ruling DMK on Wednesday becoming the second leader who was once in the good books of J Jayalalithaa, to join her arch rival. Recently, AIADMK’s Muslim face Anwar Raajhaa joined the DMK saying that the Edappadi Palaniswami-led Dravidian major, the chief opposition of Tamil Nadu, is trapped in ally BJP’s hands.
Maitreyan had previously left the AIADMK and joined BJP in 2023 – where he began his political career – after Jayalalithaa’s death and went back to the EPS-led party in 2024. EPS appointed him as organising secretary but Maitreyan, an oncologist, had remained sidelined. Maitreyan is associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He quit the BJP and joined the AIADMK in 1999 after the national party formed an alliance with the DMK.
“The path that the AIADMK is taking isn’t right. The alliance with BJP was announced by Union home minister Amit Shah, not Palaniswami,” Maitreyan said. “They talk about a common minimum programme (CMP) which cannot work on issues such as the language policy. Delhi has the switchboard. The AIADMK leadership just does what Delhi wants them to do….The contest in the 2026 assembly is only about who will be in the second position since it is clear that the DMK will emerge victorious.”
Maitreyan said his decision to join the ruling DMK was to “guard the Tamil land, language and the state’s dignity (Mann, mozhi, maanam kappom, a DMK slogan).”
Maitreyan’s exit comes at a time when the AIADMK and BJP are contradicting each other on forming a coalition government in Tamil Nadu. Shah has pitched for a government formed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if they win the 2026 elections while the AIADMK has rejected the idea since the state has never seen power sharing.
Jayalalithaa had made Maitreyan her point person in Delhi for the party. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha thrice and was the party’s floor leader in the Upper House for a long time before he was sacked from the post in 2014. After Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, Maitreyan sided with expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam who had officiated as chief minister thrice when Jayalalithaa had to leave the post due to legal cases or her health.
After he joined the DMK in the presence of chief minister MK Stalin in the party headquarters on Wednesday, EPS released a statement expelling him from the AIADMK. Though Maitreyan’s exit is unlikely to cause any significant dent to the AIADMK, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, it is significant for the incumbent DMK that leaders of its arch rival are joining them.
With PTI inputs
