AIADMK's 4th MLA resigns in 2 days — Ambasamudram's Esakki Subaya quits; party strength falls to 43; Palaniswami faction urges Speaker to reject resignations

A fourth AIADMK MLA from the rebel camp led by the C Ve Shanmugam–SP Velumani duo resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday, bringing down the party's strength to 43 from 47.

Ambasamudram MLA Esakki Subaya met Speaker JCD Prabhakar and submitted his resignation letter on Tuesday.

Earlier, three MLAs — Maragatham Kumaravel (Maduranthakam), P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), and S Jayakumar (Perundurai) — had submitted their resignations to the Speaker, who accepted them. All three had extended support to the ruling TVK government after the Assembly elections.

In a significant development, senior AIADMK functionaries including former ministers Natham R Viswanathan and P Thangamani from the rebel camp arrived at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami's residence, sparking speculation about a possible rapprochement between the two factions.

Another rebel MLA, Balakrishna Reddy, returned to the Palaniswami fold. The Palaniswami faction formally urged the Speaker to reject the resignations, calling the defections politically engineered.