The rift within the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is likely to widen in the future and 90 per cent of its leaders will join Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the next one month, said Tamil Nadu Minister Aadhav Arjuna.
Speaking at an event in Chennai on Thursday, the Tamil Nadu minister further also spoke about the AIADMK MLAs who joined the party following the 2026 assembly elections and said everyone is welcomed in the TVK. He further said the party should conduct a membership drive every week to expand its base.
"We welcome everyone who comes here with affection, like members of one family," Arjun, an MLA from the Villivakkam constituency, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. "Within one month, 90 per cent of AIADMK members are expected to join TVK. Therefore, I request TVK General Secretary to conduct membership drives every Saturday."
The rift in the AIADMK
The rift in the AIADMK had widened after party leaders SP Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam rebelled against general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's leadership. Twenty-five of the MLAs had also voted for Vijay's government in the floor test in Tamil Nadu assembly. Of them, four have resigned from the House and joined the TVK, and Vijay's party has claimed that many would follow the suit.
Since then, the party has refuted any rift in the party, but Shanmugam is yet to make his stand clear. On the other hand, Velumani, who has said that differences have been resolved, on Friday returned to his Thondamuthur assembly constituency to thank the people for electing him.
"After assuming office as Thondamuthur MLA, I garlanded the statues of the revolutionary leaders Amma (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa), MGR (M G Ramachandran) and Anna (former CM C N Annadurai) on Avinashi Road and paid my respects. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Thondamuthur constituency and the people of Coimbatore district, who have always treated me as their child and have continuously supported me, and who are more than my life. I promise that I will serve them forever," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
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