Rifts within AIADMK surface at Thevar icon’s birth anniversary
Rifts within Tamil Nadu’s main opposition AIADMK came to the fore on the 118th birthday anniversary of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar
Rifts within Tamil Nadu’s main opposition AIADMK came to the fore on the 118th birthday anniversary of caste leader Muthuramalinga Thevar when political leaders including chief minister MK Stalin and opposition leader Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and those he expelled came to pay tributes to the Forward Bloc leader at Pasumpon village in Ramanathapuram district on Thursday.
Ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, the leaders sought to pander to the Thevar community who are politically dominant in south Tamil Nadu and have been upset with the AIADMK after three of its leaders from the community O Panneerselvam, TTV Dhinakaran and his aunt VK Sasikala were expelled by EPS, who belongs to the Gounder community, that has strong influence in western Tamil Nadu.
The day became complicated for the AIADMK after its former minister and rebel KA Sengottaiyan joined hands with expelled leader OPS. The duo went together to Pasumpon, and met another expelled AIADMK leader Dhinakaran there. Sengottaiyan and OPS also met Sasikala briefly in public Pasumpon.
After Sengottaiyan had called for the expelled leaders to be brought back and also met Union home minister Amit Shah seeking the merger of all factions of the AIADMK, EPS had removed him from all party positions in September. But, Sengottaiyan, another Gounder leader, continues to be a member of the AIADMK.
After the AIADMK rebels met, EPS told reporters that whoever acted against the party’s interest would face action and added that they are functioning like a side team of the ruling DMK. “Becuase of such betrayers the AIADMK could not win the 2021 assembly elections,” EPS said.
In the 2021 assembly elections too, the AIADMK in alliance with the BJP won only 18 of the 58 assembly constituencies in southern Tamil Nadu that is dominated by the Thevar community which has traditionally voted for the party since its founding.
Sengottaiyan, OPS and Dhinkaran spoke to reporters together in Ramanathapuram. When asked if EPS would remove him from the party for joining the expelled leaders on Thursday, Sengottaiyan said, “I’ll be happy if I’m removed.”
OPS and Dhinakaran recently quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after the EPS-led AIADMK re-joined the BJP in April. “A unified AIADMK is the expectation of every cadre. Sacking veteran leaders and ignoring their voice is the peak of dictatorship,” OPS told reporters.
Dhinakaran, chief of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) a breakaway faction of the AIADMK, told reporters that they will unite to bring back the legacy of former CMs and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran (MGR) and his successor J Jayalalithaa. He added that Sasikala supports their cause for unification. “Those who believe in that will naturally unite…We are only against EPS,” Dhinakaran said. He had earlier said that if EPS is not the CM candidate of the NDA for the 2026 assembly elections, he would rejoin the alliance.
