Vellamandi Natarajan, who served as the Tourism Minister during the AIADMK regime, has joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the presence of N. Anand, general secretary of the party.
When the party split after the demise of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, he had sided with O. Panneerselvam.
However, with Mr. Panneerselvam joining the DMK before the 2026 Assembly election, Mr. Natarajan accepted the leadership of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and rejoined the AIADMK.
After the election, the AIADMK split into two.
That is why I have come and joined here.”Meanwhile, Minister Aadhav Arjuna, who is the TVK general secretary (election campaign management), said, “90% of AIADMK cadre have decided to choose TVK”.
Vellamandi Natarajan, who served as the Tourism Minister during the AIADMK regime, has joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the presence of N. Anand, general secretary of the party.
Hailing from Tiruchi, Mr. Natarajan had been with the AIADMK for a long time. Having contested and won the Tiruchi East Assembly constituency in 2016, he served as the Tourism Minister. When the party split after the demise of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, he had sided with O. Panneerselvam. However, with Mr. Panneerselvam joining the DMK before the 2026 Assembly election, Mr. Natarajan accepted the leadership of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and rejoined the AIADMK.
Against this backdrop, he met Mr. Anand at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) night and officially joined the TVK.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said, “I have been in the party for a long time. After Jayalalithaa’s demise, the party split. Following that, it has been a string of continuous defeats. I suggested that everyone in the party should sit together, discuss, and decide on the next course of action. However, they did not accept it. After the election, the AIADMK split into two. All of this is not right. As far as the TVK is concerned, they have accepted all our leaders, including Periyar, Anna, MGR, and Jayalalithaa. That is why I have come and joined here.”
Meanwhile, Minister Aadhav Arjuna, who is the TVK general secretary (election campaign management), said, “90% of AIADMK cadre have decided to choose TVK”.
On Thursday, an event was held in Panaiyur near Chennai, where members from other political parties officially joined the TVK.
On the occasion, Mr Arjuna said the TVK had delivered a corruption-free administration within just 15 days of coming to power.
“The DMK and the AIADMK are asking what we achieved in these 15 days of coming to power. Tamil Nadu’s politics revolves around safeguarding secularism and social justice. We stand firm on that. Under the DMK regime, funds were collected for various power centres. For the past 15 days, that has been completely stopped,” he said.
“Why do we welcome those coming from the AIADMK? Because after Jayalalithaa’s demise, the decisions made by their general secretary went against the sentiments of the cadres. That is why they faced defeats. Following those defeats, they hatched a massive conspiracy — specifically, a plan to make [DMK leader] Udhayanidhi Stalin the Chief Minister and EPS [Palaniswami] the Deputy Chief Minister,” he claimed.
“This is what created immense dissatisfaction within the AIADMK. We did not invite any MLA by offering them incentives. This is the real AIADMK. This is a family. That is why everyone is coming over. To overthrow the DMK, 90% of the AIADMK cadre decided to choose TVK,” he said.
