Four former AIADMK Ministers — M.C. Sampath, N.R. Sivapathi, Kadambur C. Raju, and Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan — joined the TVK at its headquarters in Panaiyur on the outskirts of Chennai in the presence of party general secretary and Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources N. Anand and a few other Ministers on June 6, 2026. Photo: Special Arrangement
The recent defection of a large number of former Ministers and legislators belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has prompted many to wonder whether the ruling party is seeking to build its organisational network through these latest recruits.Even though it is well known that the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), a voluntary organisation made up of newly elected Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s fans, has provided the much-needed manpower for the TVK, there is a perception in certain quarters that the ruling party has not yet acquired enough strength on the ground. Under such circumstances, it is quite natural that the TVK follows an “open-door policy” for anyone with political experience, especially from the AIADMK, which has finished third in the April-May Assembly election. There have been accretions to the ruling party from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) too but the TVK’s keenness to woo as many cadres as it can from the AIADMK is clearly evident. At an event to mark the admission of the defectors last week, one of the prominent faces of the new regime and Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna said that “the AIADMK and the TVK are one and the same. The TVK is not a different party but [like] a parent body.” This observation has prompted leaders and observers to describe the TVK as “a new AIADMK.”
