CHENNAI: The C Ve Shanmugam-S P Velumani faction of the AIADMK, which has successfully weaned away 28 of the party's 47 MLAs from general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, is now considering joining the government led by Vijay after supporting the confidence vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday.
Ministerial Berths Sought
While the faction claims to have struck a deal with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to secure five or six ministerial positions, sources within TVK have stated that Vijay has made no such commitment. An AIADMK MLA, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Vijay had spoken to Shanmugam a few days ago. "We are joining the government," the MLA told a leading daily. "The number of ministers will be decided later." However, a TVK minister denied this assertion, emphasizing that Vijay has welcomed the faction's support but is not reliant on it to win the confidence vote.
Political Fallout
The TVK minister further noted that such a move could upset coalition partners including the VCK, IUML, and Left parties, who have extended their support to TVK. Some members of the Shanmugam group pointed out that Vijay's visit to Shanmugam's office on Tuesday had prompted several fence-sitting MLAs to align with their camp.
Whip Appointments and Disputes
Both factions have appointed their own whips: C Vijayabaskar for the Shanmugam camp and Agri S S Krishnamoorthy for the EPS side. Emails have been sent to MLAs, with one section urging them to vote in favor of the confidence motion and the other against it. The EPS camp maintains that it has submitted letters of support from all 47 MLAs, while the Shanmugam camp, which elected S P Velumani as legislature party leader, sent an objection letter to Speaker J C D Prabhakar, disputing EPS's claim.
An MLA close to Shanmugam explained, "The signatures were obtained for some other reason when the MLAs were staying at a resort in Puducherry. We never gave a letter supporting EPS as legislature party leader. We have submitted a letter of support from around 30 MLAs to the Speaker, recognizing S P Velumani as our legislature party leader." The Speaker will now conduct an inquiry before deciding on the validity of the letters. A Shanmugam camp leader added, "There is no question of the anti-defection law kicking in as the legislature party has not yet been recognized." The anti-defection law stipulates that legislators who switch loyalties face disqualification unless the party merges with another, with at least two-thirds of its MLAs agreeing to the merger.
