Sasikala’s entry ahead of T.N. Assembly polls may aggravate AIADMK’s woes

Sasikala’s new party launch threatens to deepen divisions within AIADMK, complicating its political future in Tamil Nadu

With the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala launching a party of her own and internal divisions within the organisation not having been reconciled as yet, the Dravidian major is perhaps undergoing the most challenging phase of its existence.

The likelihood of the AIADMK’s support base in Tamil Nadu getting fragmented further looms large as Ms. Sasikala, in the launch event of her party in Ramanathapuram on Tuesday (February 24, 2026), trained her guns on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami for having “let her down” and turning against her after becoming Chief Minister in February 2017 at her behest.

Interacting with journalists in Theni earlier in the day, former Chief Minister and expelled coordinator of the party, O. Panneerselvam, sounded frustrated at being left out in the lurch with Mr. Palaniswami reiterating his position of not taking him back into the AIADMK fold.

Just as the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, had spoiled the victory chances of the AIADMK and its allies in 20 constituencies during the 2021 Assembly election, Ms. Sasikala’s party or Mr. Panneerselvam staying away from the fray can do it for the upcoming elections. Interestingly, the Dravidian major has taken into its alliance, for the 2026 Assembly polls, the party of Mr. Dhinakaran, till recently a bitter critic of Mr. Palaniswami.

Ms. Sasikala’s choice of Kamuthi, near Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district, to announce her decision did not appear to be accidental. Even though she did not outwardly seek to present herself as a leader of the Mukkulathor community, to which she belongs, the fact that the proximity of the venue of her meeting to the memorial of former leader of the Forward Bloc, U. Muturamalinga Thevar (1908-1963), regarded as an icon of the community, did not go unnoticed.

Subject to any dramatic realignment of political forces — the coming together of Mr. Palaniswami and Ms. Sasikala — it looks like the AIADMK may continue to suffer at least in the State’s southern districts. In 2021, the former interim general secretary, who returned to Chennai in February that year after completing her sentence in a Bengaluru jail, stayed away from the political scene at the time of the Assembly polls.