Chennai: Several leaders who earlier left the AIADMK and joined the DMK and the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) have won in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.
The AIADMK, which historically had not faced back-to-back Assembly defeats since its formation, has now lost two consecutive elections—2021 and 2026—after the death of J Jayalalithaa. The party has also lost its status as the principal opposition this time.
Among those who moved from AIADMK to the DMK and won are E V Velu, Sathur Ramachandran, Sekarbabu, Raja Kannappan, Senthil Balaji, Raghupathi, Anita Radhakrishnan, Austin, Villupuram Lakshmanan, O Panneerselvam, Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian.
Similarly, several leaders who shifted to TVK citing dissatisfaction with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami have also won, including Sengottaiyan, Subramaniyan, former MP Sathyabama, Nirmal Kumar, V S Babu, Lokesh Tamilselvan and Narayanan.
Some AIADMK functionaries were quoted as saying that victories by those who had moved long ago were not surprising, but the success of leaders who were sidelined or pushed out had caused a major jolt. They urged the party leadership to accommodate workers, prioritise popular and sincere performers, and rebuild confidence within the organisation.
