BRIC Team reports: The story so far: The rift in the AIADMK widened on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) night in the wake of the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami removing 26 rebel district secretaries including 12 legislators from their positions. Among those who were sacked from their posts were former Ministers C.Ve.
Earlier in the day, the division in the organisation was out in the Assembly when 22 legislators, owing allegiance to Mr. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Palaniswami is going to cite the second scenario, which appears to be a straightforward instance of defection.
Background
In September 2017, the then Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal referred to the first scenario, while disqualifying 18 AIADMK MLAs for having given representations in the previous month to Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, expressing their lack of confidence in Mr.
Key facts
- The story so far: The rift in the AIADMK widened on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) night in the wake of the party general secretary Edappadi K.
- Palaniswami removing 26 rebel district secretaries including 12 legislators from their positions.
- Among those who were sacked from their posts were former Ministers C.Ve.
- Earlier in the day, the division in the organisation was out in the Assembly when 22 legislators, owing allegiance to Mr.
- Palaniswami is going to cite the second scenario, which appears to be a straightforward instance of defection.
What this means
Palaniswami, who was the Chief Minister.Comment | The anti-defection law is facing convulsions How have courts of law viewed the subject?Over the years, different judicial pronouncements have been given and in some cases, judgements have differed from each other. Palaniswami cites the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Shiv Sena case of May 2023 wherein the Court addressed one of the issues which is of relevance to Tamil Nadu. In Maharashtra too, conflicting whips were issued by rival groups to members of the Shiv Sena.
Eventually, the Court held that “to hold that it is the legislature party which appoints the Whip would be to sever the figurative umbilical cord which connects a member of the House to the political party.” It concluded that “the political party, and not the legislature party, appoints the Whip and the Leader in the House.”Comment | The hollowing out of the anti-defection law What are the positions of the rival groups?Mr. Palaniswami is of the view that he, being the general secretary of the party, had appointed his colleague-former Minister “Agri” S.S. Krishnamurthy as the whip of the legislature party and the latter, in turn, conveyed through e-mail, registered post and SMS, about the line to be pursued by the legislators in the Assembly on the trust motion.
