AIADMK MLA MR Vijayabhaskar resigns from Tamil Nadu Assembly
29 Jun 2026

Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) MR Vijayabhaskar, representing the Karur constituency in Tamil Nadu, has resigned from his post.

He submitted his resignation letter to Speaker JCD Prabhakar, who confirmed that it was submitted in accordance with Rule 21 and, as it was found to be in proper form under Rule 22, the resignation has been formally accepted.

With this resignation, the strength of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the assembly has been reduced to 41.

Internal rift in AIADMK after election results
Party turmoil

The AIADMK has been reeling under a series of resignations since the election results were declared on May 4.

The internal rift came to light during a trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on May 13, where 25 MLAs defied the party whip and supported the TVK government.

This led to their removal from party posts by AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Resignations and defections to TVK
Continued exodus

Subsequently, four MLAs from the Shanmugam camp resigned and joined TVK.

On June 16, former minister C Vijayabaskar also resigned as an AIADMK MLA from Viralimalai constituency in Pudukkottai district.

His resignation came after Speaker Prabhakar dropped disqualification proceedings against 21 MLAs who violated the party whip but were pardoned by Palaniswami for their actions.

Speaker's statement on disqualification proceedings
Disqualification issue

Speaker Prabhakar confirmed that Palaniswami sought the disqualification of 25 MLAs for voting against the party whip.

However, he later received letters from Palaniswami stating that 21 of these MLAs were pardoned after expressing regret.

An inquiry was launched against four other legislators, Esakki Subbaiah, Maragatham Kumaravel, V Sathyabama, and D Jayakumar, for their actions during this period of turmoil in AIADMK.