The AIADMK headquarters here came under heavy police security on Thursday following the widening rift in the party.
Additional police personnel were deployed as a precautionary measure to prevent a recurrence of the violent clashes that erupted between rival factions in 2022. The violence had led to the premises being ransacked.
The party is currently facing a significant internal rift, with one faction led by its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and a dissident group headed by C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani.
The divide became evident after the floor test held in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday. The ruling TVK saw its tally rise to 144 in the 234-member House after 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs aligned with the Velumani-Shanmugam camp cross-voted in its favour.
Subsequently, Palaniswami removed the 25 MLAs, including Velumani, Shanmugam and Natham R Viswanathan from various party posts.
Meanwhile, AIADMK cadres began arriving at Palaniswami's residence here this morning to extend their support.
According to AIADMK sources, Palaniswami is expected to chair a meeting with his party MLAs and senior leaders to discuss the future course of action.
A senior AIADMK leader said the party's advocate IS Inbadurai is also expected to meet the assembly speaker JCD Prabhakar to submit a formal complaint seeking the disqualification of the rebel MLAs.
Published on May 14, 2026