In a blow to AIADMK, Esakki Subbaiah, MLA from Ambasamudram, has resigned from the Assembly, marking the fourth such resignation post the Tamil Nadu elections. Subbaiah’s move hints at a potential shift to the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), heightening the crisis within AIADMK. The legislator tendered his resignation to Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar, initially in typed form, which was later accepted after he submitted a handwritten version as requested.
The resignation of Subbaiah compounds the challenges faced by AIADMK, which has been witnessing internal divisions post the elections. The party’s legislators have split into factions, with one supporting General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) and the other backing senior leader C. Ve. Shanmugam. The rift became evident during the Assembly trust vote, with the Shanmugam faction siding with the TVK government, leading to opposition from the EPS-led group.
Earlier, three AIADMK legislators who supported the TVK government also resigned from the Assembly. Sathyabama from Dharapuram, Jayakumar from Perundurai, and Maragatham Kumaravel from Madurantakam submitted their resignations to Speaker Prabhakar before joining TVK under the guidance of senior party leader Aadhav Arjuna. With Subbaiah’s exit, speculations are rife about potential further defections from AIADMK.
Esakki Subbaiah, a seasoned leader, won the recent Assembly elections in Ambasamudram with a significant margin of 10,245 votes. He had previously secured victories in the constituency in the 2011 and 2021 elections and also held a ministerial position in the Jayalalithaa-led government.
