No room for AIADMK rebels in TVK Cabinet

Chennai: AIADMK’s rebel faction led by C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani went into a huddle on Thursday as the TVK govt went ahead with cabinet expansion without accommodating the AIADMK MLAs.

The AIADMK MLAs who backed the TVK govt during the May 13 trust vote appear to have been left with limited political options now.

While Vijay has signalled non-inclination to induct them into the cabinet, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has toughened his stand refusing to yield to the rebel faction’s demand of convening a general council. The MLAs who met at C Ve Shanmugam’s office are yet to decide on their next course of action, said sources.

While 25 AIADMK MLAs broke ranks and voted in favour of the TVK govt during the confidence motion in the assembly, they were expecting six to eight cabinet berths.

Vijay had also called on Shanmugam and thanked the group for extending support, triggering speculation within political circles over possible ministerial positions for the rebel camp.

However, Vijay had chosen to fill the cabinet with his own partymen and other allies.

The exclusion from ministry comes amidst constitutional limits on the size of the Tamil Nadu cabinet under Article 164(1A), which permits a maximum of 35 ministers, including the chief minister.

With 31 ministers from TVK already inducted and two Congress legislators joining the ministry, only two vacancies are left to accommodate VCK and IUML.

The meeting convened by Velumani and Shanmugam on Thursday also reflected the shrinking numbers within the group, with not all the 25 rebel MLAs attending.

However, leaders from the rebel bloc later stated that they still stick to the demand of convening the party’s general council to review the election defeat.

EPS faction too said that they would not yield to the demand.

“Those who want to continue in AIADMK have to abide by the words of our leader EPS and return to the party fold. They can continue to raise questions within the party structure instead of violating party diktat. If not they can chose their own path,” an AIADMK functionary supporting EPS said.