Three AIADMK legislators resign to join TVK

Three AIADMK legislators resigned from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday and joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), deepening a political crisis within the opposition party and reducing its seat count in the state assembly.

The three lawmakers, Maragatham Kumaravel from Madurantakam, S. Jayakumar from Perundurai, and P. Sathyabama from Dharapuram, submitted their resignation letters to Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabakaran at the Secretariat in Chennai. Shortly after resigning, they met state minister Aadhav Arjuna and formally joined the TVK, the party led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.

The resignations reduce the AIADMK’s tally in the 234-member assembly from 47 to 44 seats. The three legislators were part of a faction of 25 AIADMK MLAs led by senior leaders C.V. Shanmugam and S.P. Velumani who had voted in favor of the TVK government during a trust vote on May 13, defying the party whip. The floor test was passed by the TVK-led government with 144 votes, which included support from the Congress party and other allies.

The move by the three MLAs came amid the threat of possible disqualification for violating the party whip. In response to the broader...