The story so far: The rift in the AIADMK widened on Wednesday night (May 13, 2026) 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. Shanmugam and S.P. Velumani. Earlier in the day, the division in the organisation was out in the Assembly when 22 legislators, owing allegiance to Mr. Palaniswami, opposed the trust motion moved by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) regime and 25 MLAs favoured the motion.

As per the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and the Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (Disqualification Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, there are two grounds for disqualification in the event of defection — when a member voluntarily gives up membership of his or her political party and when a member votes or abstains from voting contrary to any direction issued by his or her political party.