AIADMK has left senior dissidents including SP Velumani, CVe Shanmugam, Natham R Viswanathan, and P Thangamani off its official star-campaigners list for the October 6 bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram. The party submitted the list of campaigners, which includes 13 sitting legislators such as general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, to election authorities. Star-campaigner status is significant because travel costs for these individuals are not charged to the candidates’ election-expense ceilings. Outlets such as DT Next independently confirmed the missing names on the Election Commission list.
The omissions highlight a widening internal rift that began after about 25 AIADMK legislators backed the TVK government during a trust vote earlier this year. In response, Palaniswami removed dozens of district secretaries, leading many to drift into the dissident camp or toward the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which the current bypolls stem from. Efforts to heal the breach—such as alternative party posts offered to Velumani and Viswanathan—largely failed after most rebels declined them, and several dissidents also skipped statewide farmer protests that leadership asked them to front.
While a few once-aligned MLAs like R Kamaraj and G Hari have returned to the establishment’s campaign fold, the missing names show that organizational peace talks remain unfinished ahead of the high-stakes bypolls. How the sidelined leaders respond through a boycott, quiet campaigning, or public protest will shape opposition cohesion against TVK.