Aadhav Arjuna Questions AIADMK Legitimacy in Assembly Debate With Palaniswami

A heated exchange broke out between TVK and AIADMK in the assembly in Chennai on Tuesday, after PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna publicly questioned the legitimacy of the present AIADMK under the leadership of general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami following an exodus of senior party functionaries.

The political debate began when Palaniswami flayed the defection of a few elected MLAs who left the party soon after winning elections. Addressing the assembly, Palaniswami criticized lawmakers who step down and switch political allegiances immediately after securing victory, pointing out the immense effort invested by grassroots party cadres during election campaigns.

“It takes at least 6,000 party workers to ensure the victory of an MLA,” Palaniswami stated during his speech in the house. “When an MLA resigns and quits the party immediately after the election to join another party, the hard work of party cadres goes waste.”

Responding directly to Palaniswami's statements regarding the defection of elected members, Aadhav declared that TVK did not recognise the present AIADMK as the legitimate party that was founded and led by former chief ministers M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.

“It was Amma’s rule till 2017,” Aadhav said to the assembly during the confrontation. “But after that, it is not the real AIADMK. We don’t accept that.”

Aadhav further accused the AIADMK leadership under Palaniswami of surrendering the state of Tamil Nadu’s interests to the central government in Delhi following the death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa.

“As long as Amma was ruling, NEET, GST and CAA were not introduced,” Aadhav pointed out during the debate with Palaniswami. “After her death, you surrendered Tamil Nadu’s rights to Delhi.”

Directly linking the recent departures from the party to Palaniswami’s tenure as general secretary, Aadhav said that AIADMK MLAs would not have crossed over to other parties if they had maintained confidence in Palaniswami's leadership.

“AIADMK cadres have completely lost confidence in your leadership,” Aadhav told Palaniswami during the heated assembly exchange in Chennai on Tuesday, highlighting the ongoing political rift between TVK and AIADMK.