States » SouthPosted at: Sep 30 2026 5:43PM


Former Minister Semmalai quits AIADMK, joins TVK in Vijay's presence at Dharapuram bypoll rally

Chennai, Sep 28 (UNI) In a major setback to to the AIADMK which was already riddled with answers to arrest the successive poll routs, S.Semmalai, senior leader, former Minister, four time MLA and a former Lok Sabha member, on Wednesday quit the party and joined the ruling TVK in the presence of Chief Minister VIjay at his bypoll rally in Dharapuram.
Vijay inducted him into the party by exchanging pleasantries by presenting him a TVK shawl in the presence of senior leaders and Ministers K.A.Sengottaiyan, Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, Rajmohan and others.
Semmalai has been a loyal foot soldier and leader of the AIADMK for decades. Despite being sidelined by its General Secretary he still stayed loyal to the party. If someone like him feels there is no point in staying on, it would be a major setback to the party.
Semmalai, who had in May announced that he would be staying away from active politics for a few months without disclosing his future plans, met TVK MinisterThamizhan Parthiban ahead of his induction into the TVK. While revealing this, he had said that the AIADMK had weakened and that its leadership had failed to take adequate steps to strengthen the party.
He had also called for the AIADMK General Council to be convened after the election to analyse the reasons for the party's successive electoral defeats.
Despite being a veteran leader and a staunch loyalist of MGR, Jayalalithaa and EPS, the four time MLA was not given a ticket to contest the April 23 Assembly election. He first entered the State Assembly as by contesting as an Independent from Taramangalam constituency in the 1980 election, which was considered a rare achievement at that time. He later joined the AIADMK and was elected to the assembly from the same seat in 1984.
After a long break, he was elected from Omalur constituency as an AIADMK nominee in 2001 and also became a Lok Sabha MP in 2009 winning from the Salem constituency, before he returned to state politics and was elected third time in 2016 from Mettur constituency.
A veteran AIADMK leader who has been associated with the party since the MGR era, Semmalai had served as a Minister in former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's Cabinet in 2001.
Semmalai deserting the AIADMK and joining the TVK comes at a crucial time and also at a time when several former AIADMK Ministers and functionaries too took a similar decision.
Semmalai hails from Salem district and has considerable support. It is also the home turf of EPS.
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Tags: #Former Minister Semmalai quits AIADMK# joins TVK in Vijay's presence at Dharapuram bypoll rally
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