AIADMK faces another blow as MLA Esakki Subaya resigns from Tamil Nadu Assembly

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) suffered another political setback after party MLA Esakki Subaya from the Ambasamudram Assembly constituency tendered his resignation from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. Subaya met Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker J C D Prabhakar and submitted his resignation letter, making him the fourth party MLA to do so in two days.

After initially refusing to accept Subaya's resignation letter because it did not comply with Assembly rules, Speaker Prabhakar later accepted it after the MLA submitted a handwritten version.

The MLA had arrived at the Secretariat in Chennai and handed over a typed resignation letter to the Speaker. Since the letter did not conform to Assembly procedures, it was initially rejected. Subaya subsequently withdrew the typed letter and, within minutes, submitted a handwritten resignation letter, which the Speaker accepted.

Subaya had voted in favour of TVK govt

Subaya won the Ambasamudram constituency in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections by defeating Congress candidate VP Durai with a margin of 10,245 votes. Subaya received 65,5899 votes, while Durai got 55,344 votes. S Rajagopal, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate, stood third with 53,611 votes.

Subaya is among the breakaway MLAs supporting former state ministers C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani and had voted in favour of the TVK government during the floor test in the Assembly on May 13.

Three rebel MLAs resign

The development comes a day after three MLAs from the rebel camp resigned from the Assembly after meeting the Speaker and later joined TVK. AIADMK legislators Maragatham Kumaravel, P Sathyabama and S Jayakumar joined the TVK on Monday evening, barely hours after resigning as MLAs.

A source in the party told news agency PTI that the three are likely to receive the TVK tickets to contest in the ensuing byelections on the party's whistle symbol.

All three of these leaders are among the 25 MLAs had voted in TVK's support during the floor test in the assembly. 

It's a huge boost for Vijay's party, which had fallen short of a simple majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. 

Tamil Nadu govt announces three Assembly seats vacant

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday formally informed the Election Commission about vacancies in three Assembly constituencies following the resignation of three AIADMK MLAs. The three constituencies which have been declared vacant are Madurantakam, Dharapuram and Perundurai.

Also Read: Setback for AIADMK as three rebel MLAs resign from Tamil Nadu Assembly, likely to join TVK

Also Read: 'Stabbed us in the back, won't trust them again': Udhayanidhi lambasts Congress for supporting Vijay