Former AIADMK Minister S Semmalai Joins Tamil Nadu's Ruling TVK Party

Veteran politician and former AIADMK Minister S Semmalai, 81, officially joined Tamil Nadu's ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party on Wednesday in Dharapuram, in the presence of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. Semmalai, who served in the AIADMK for over four decades including as a minister under the late CM Jayalalithaa and as a Lok Sabha MP from Salem, had left the AIADMK in May citing concerns about the party's internal state. His switch continues a pattern of prominent AIADMK leaders joining the TVK following the party's third-place finish in the April 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

More than four months after leaving the AIADMK, the 81-year-old politician — who had previously served as a close associate of party president Edappadi K Palaniswami — joined the ruling alliance, a move that several other former members of the Dravidian party had also made. At a bypoll campaign event in Dharapuram, Vijay was welcomed by Semmalai, who placed a TVK shawl around him, marking the former AIADMK leader's formal entry into the ruling party. Following the TVK's victory in the April 2026 Assembly elections — a contest in which the AIADMK placed third — a number of the party's notable figures and former ministers, including M R Vijayabaskar, Udumalai K Radhakrishnan, and Kadambur C Raju, crossed over to join the winning party.

Former AIADMK Minister S Semmalai Joins Tamil Nadu's Ruling TVK Party

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Former AIADMK Minister S Semmalai Joins Tamil Nadu's Ruling TVK Party

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