CHENNAI: Former AIADMK minister S Semmalai on Wednesday joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the presence of party founder and chief minister C Joseph Vijay.The 81-year-old leader, a former loyalist of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, joined the ruling party more than four months after quitting the AIADMK, news agency PTI reported.Semmalai’s entry follows that of several prominent former AIADMK leaders.Former AIADMK health minister C Vijayabaskar was among those who joined the TVK after its victory in the Assembly polls.AIADMK leader KA Sengottaiyan had also joined the TVK months before the state polls and later became a minister in the Cabinet led by Vijay.The ruling TVK had said loyalists of late MGR, AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa would continue to join the party, PTI reported.At a bypoll rally venue, Semmalai welcomed Vijay, who presented him with a TVK shawl, marking the former AIADMK leader’s entry into the ruling party.Semmalai, who hails from the Salem region like Palaniswami, had expressed “anguish” in May this year following the AIADMK’s debacle in the Assembly election, citing a lack of efforts to strengthen the organisation.“I am much worried about the happenings in the party; it is fragile; the present situation is not comfortable to me,” Semmalai had said while explaining his decision to quit the party.Semmalai served as a minister in the 2001-06 AIADMK Cabinet led by late chief minister Jayalalithaa and remained an AIADMK functionary for more than four decades.He was also the Lok Sabha MP from Salem from 2009 to 2014.Several other well-known AIADMK leaders and former ministers, including MR Vijayabaskar, Udumalai K Radhakrishnan and Kadambur C Raju, had joined the TVK following its surprise victory in the April 2026 Assembly elections, with the AIADMK being relegated to third position in the state Assembly.(With agency inputs)
