AIADMK to contest bypolls for 4 Assembly constituencies, says Edappadi K. Palaniswami

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Saturday (June 6, 2026) that in the upcoming byelections for four Assembly constituencies, where AIADMK MLAs resigned, the party would contest and win.

Participating in the public meeting held at Edappadi on Saturday evening (June 6, 2026) to thank the voters, Mr. Palaniswami said through horse-trading, four AIADMK MLAs resigned and joined the ruling TVK. They betrayed the party, the cadre, and the voters.

“History will not forgive these four people. Likewise, a few people who became MLAs and Ministers by the AIADMK went to the other party on Saturday. But cadre have not gone to any parties. The AIADMK is a cadre-centric party. In the upcoming byelections for these four constituencies, the AIADMK will contest with the support of alliance parties and will win,” he said.

Stating that winning and losing was normal in politics, Mr. Palaniswami said that in the recently held Assembly elections, the AIADMK won 47 seats and its alliance parties won six seats. The alliance secured around 1.35 crore votes. In 1991, DMK won only two seats, but in 1996 it came to power. Likewise, in 1996, the AIADMK won only four seats, but came to power again in 2001. “Like a phoenix, the AIADMK will rise and come to power again,” he said. “The TVK won only 108 seats and did not get a majority. In eight districts, the TVK did not win a single seat. With the help of alliance partners of the DMK, the TVK came to power. The government could fall anytime when these parties withdraw support,” he asserted.

Charging the TVK was the same as the DMK, Mr. Palaniswami said that on Friday (June 5, 2026), a Cabinet meeting was held and 436 schemes were discussed, but there were no details about what these schemes were and how much funds had been sanctioned for each. “People will soon understand about the TVK government,” he said.

Without discussing with the parties supporting the government, the TVK gave a Rajya Sabha ticket to the Congress. “The problem has already arisen in the TVK alliance as the Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Praveen Chakravarty has by himself named the TVK-led alliance as Tamil Nadu Social Justice Progressive Alliance,” he said.

“Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay claims honest IAS and IPS officers have been appointed. But these same officers served under the DMK and AIADMK governments. Elected representatives should only run the government, not officials. If officials were able to run the government, what is the need for a Chief Minister? The TVK was founded only three years ago, and what have they done for the people? Through cinema, Mr. Vijay won, and now, he is not serving the people,” he added.