New Delhi: Ahead of the floor test in Tamil Nadu assembly, a rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) faction led by C.Ve. Shanmugam has declared support to chief minister C. Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Tuesday (May 12).Shanmugam accused AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami of having attempted to form a government with the support of the party’s traditional adversary, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).“We founded this party against DMK. For 53 years, our politics have been against the DMK. Given this history, a proposal suggesting that an AIADMK government be formed with the support of the DMK was put forward; however, the majority of our members rejected and opposed it,” said Shanmugam to reporters in Chennai.“If we were to form an alliance with the DMK, the AIADMK would cease to exist. They refused to accept such a scenario. We currently stand without any alliance, and our focus must now be on revitalising and strengthening our own party. We ultimately decided to extend our support to the TVK, which emerged victorious,” he added.Shanmugham said the rebel camp had elected former minister S.P. Velumani as its legislature party leader and submitted letters to the assembly secretary informing him of the decision, The Indian Express reported.“We faced defeat collectively and we take collective responsibility for it. We are not blaming any individual. But the party founded by MGR and strengthened by Amma must now be protected,” he was quoted as saying.Also read: How Vijay Uses the Politics of SilenceThe rift in the party with the possibility of a split, had been haunting the AIADMK since former chief minister J. Jayalalitha’s death in 2016. It has now come out in the open over the alleged bid to align with the party’s traditional rival DMK after the 2026 assembly elections.The AIADMK has been reduced to 47 seats in the assembly from 66 in 2021. While the DMK was brought down to 59 seats, it was the TVK that emerged as the front runner after the polls winning 108 seats and the AIADMK being reduced to the third position.The Hindu has reported that out of the total 47 legislators of the AIADMK, 30 MLAs are believed to be with the group led by Shanmugam and S.P. Velumani.In a separate statement the AIADMK on X hit out at the rebel camp and said that the party is not an organisation of a few MLAs but a movement of the party cadre.“This party is not an organisation of a few MLAs. It is a movement of party cadre. Whenever this movement faced any problem, it is the decision of the party workers that has emerged victorious.”“Even now, the workers have made their decision,” the statement said.Later in the Tamil Nadu assembly, Velumani, who is part of the rebel camp of the AIADMK that announced its support for the TVK government, praised chief minister Vijay’s move to order the closure of over 700 retail liquor shops across the State. This is the third major rift in the AIADMK since its formation. The first was after the death of former chief minister M.G. Ramachandran’s death in 1987 when the party split between Jayalalithaa and Janaki Ramachandran. After Jayalalithaa’s death, O. Panneerselvam had rebelled against the party before he was eventually expelled by V.K. Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s long-time aide before she went to jail in 2017 after being convicted in a disproportionate asset case. While she had left Palaniswami as the party’s head, a prolonged tussle with Panneerselvam followed over the party symbol and legacy.There were also reports of rifts within the party in the aftermath of the election results as one faction opposed any move to support Vijay’s TVK government, while the one led by Shanmugan sought to support the new government. There was also discontent within the party over its electoral setbacks and failure to revitalise the organisation under Palaniswami.Reports of the rift had also solidified when the party’s newly elected MLAs arrived at the assembly in two separate groups for the oath taking ceremony on Monday, Times of India reported. This was against the party’s tradition of arriving together as a sign of unity and organisational discipline formed during the M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa eras.