AIADMK legislators attended the Tamil Nadu assembly oath-taking in two separate groups on Monday, revealing a deepening divide in the party after securing 47 seats.
The newly elected AIADMK legislators arrived at the 17th Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in Chennai in two factions. One group was led by former chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami while the other followed leaders C.V. Shanmugam and S.P. Velumani. The factions sat apart during the ceremony and departed separately.
One letter submitted to pro-tem speaker M.V. Karuppaiah named Palaniswami as legislature party leader with backing from 17 to 24 MLAs. A second letter presented later claimed support from 30 MLAs for Velumani as leader. Palaniswami had earlier denied reports of an impending split.
The visible split follows the party's recent electoral setbacks and comes as TVK forms the new government with 108 seats. Some AIADMK MLAs have expressed interest in supporting the incoming administration.
