The AIADMK’s district secretaries and headquarters office-bearers on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) reaffirmed their faith in the leadership of general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, even as dissidents, led by S.P.  Velumani and C.Ve. Shanmugam, kept criticising Mr. Palaniswami’s style of functioning.

Stating this in a release after a two-hour meeting at the party headquarters in Chennai, the AIADMK attributed to the victory of 53 candidates put up by the party and its allies in the recent Assembly election to Mr. Palaniswami’s State-wide campaign. However, it did not mention the number of district secretaries who attended the meeting, as against the total of 82.

Sections of the media reported that former Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, who is the district secretary for North Chennai (South-East), skipped the meeting. Mr. Jayakumar remained inaccessible.

But Tiruvallur (West) district secretary and former Minister Be. Vee. Ramanah, in a chat with journalists, claimed that most of the district secretaries had taken part at the meeting. Those who did not make it to the meeting did so on account of “logistical reasons”, he added. 

R.B. Udhayakumar, Madurai (West-Suburban) district secretary, wondered whether it would be proper for anyone to “abandon” his or her “mother” in times of crisis and go for a “foster mother”.

Later in the day, Mr Palaniswami announced that the Perambalur district secretary R Tamilselvan had been relieved of his responsibility.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shanmugam, who addressed the media along with Mr. Velumani, called upon Mr. Palaniswami to convene the general council at the earliest and analyse the reasons for the party’s electoral setbacks since the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He also criticised the general secretary for the manner in which he had “treated” the emissaries of the Tamilaga Vettri  Kazhagam, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, and the Puthiya Tamilagam while exploring an electoral tie-up with the AIADMK. “He [Mr. Palaniswami] spoke in such a manner that they should not have an alliance with us,” Mr. Shanmugam said.