C Vijayabaskar resigns as Tamil Nadu MLA, fifth AIADMK leader to quit in 2 months

C Vijayabaskar was also among the 25 AIADMK rebel MLAs who voted in favour of the TVK government during the trust vote held in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on May 13.

In Short

• Speaker JCD Prabhakar accepts Vijayabaskar's resignation
• He blames Palaniswami's wrong decisions for the party's current troubles
• He is the seniormost AIADMK legislator to resign

The exodus of MLAs from the AIADMK continues. Former minister C Vijayabaskar on Tuesday resigned as an AIADMK MLA, dealing yet another blow to the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led party.

Vijayabaskar, who was elected from the Viralimalai constituency in Pudukkottai district, submitted his resignation to Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar, who accepted it.

After resigning, the former Health Minister blamed Palaniswami's "wrong decisions" for the challenges currently facing the party.

He said he was leaving the party with a heavy heart and thanked party cadres and well-wishers for their support over the years.

A close aide of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Vijayabaskar is the fifth AIADMK legislator — and the most senior among them — to resign since Vijay-led TVK emerged as the single-largest party in the May 4 Assembly elections. He was also among the 25 AIADMK rebel MLAs who voted in favour of the TVK government during the trust vote held in the Assembly on May 13.

Prior to his resignation, Vijayabaskar had taken an apparent swipe at Palaniswami without naming him directly, saying leadership is not about power or arrogance, but about carrying everyone along with commitment.

In a social media post, the former minister wrote: "Leadership is neither authority nor arrogance... it is a dedicated embrace."

He further said: "How can a leadership win the hearts of the people when it cannot win the hearts of the cadres who toil for the party? Is a true journey even possible in a place where emotions are not respected?"

Earlier, four other AIADMK MLAs resigned from the Assembly and later joined the ruling TVK.

Three MLAs — Maragatham Kumaravel, Jayakumar and Sathyabama — resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly and subsequently joined Chief Minister Vijay's TVK on May 25. Kumaravel had won from Maduranthakam, Sathyabama from Dharapuram and Jayakumar from Perundurai on AIADMK tickets.

A day later, on May 26, Ambasamudram MLA Esakki Subaya also resigned from the Assembly.

The development came two weeks after 25 AIADMK MLAs, led by senior leader CV Shanmugam, extended support to Vijay's TVK government. The MLAs who later resigned were part of this rebel faction.

With Vijayabaskar's resignation, the AIADMK's strength in the Assembly has fallen from 47 to 42.

The party is also grappling with an existential crisis following its fourth consecutive electoral defeat since Jayalalithaa returned to power in 2016. Under Palaniswami's leadership, the AIADMK lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the 2021 Assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, before finishing third in the recently concluded Assembly election.

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