{
  "id": 391224,
  "title": "Velumani, Viswanathan blame Palaniswami for the AIADMK’s weakening and electoral defeats since 2021",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/velumani-viswanathan-blame-palaniswami-for-the-aiadmks-weakening-and",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-09T16:44:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/velumani-viswanathan-squarely-blame-palaniswami-for-aiadmks-weakening-and-electoral-defeats-since-2021/article71325226.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Senior party leaders and former ministers S.P. Velumani and Natham R. Viswanathan have criticized Edappadi K. Palaniswami for the weakening of the AIADMK and its electoral defeats following 2021. The pair opposes the removal of over 400 members from the party's general council and executive committee, as well as the re-induction of former AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala and deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran. They accused Palaniswami of not utilizing the opportunity to form an alliance with the Tamil Vaarai Kazhagam and blamed his leadership for failing to materialize possible alliances with the BJP and the TVK. The letter, signed by Velumani and Viswanathan, stated that the removal of party functionaries has weakened the party and weakened their contributions to the party. They called for these members to be reinstated to their original positions to strengthen the party. Despite its strong prospects, the AIADMK lost the 2021 Assembly election and the 2024 Lok Sabha election due to Palaniswami's \"wrong decisions\", the leaders claimed. The party functionaries were disheartened by the arbitrary removals of those who had been discharging their duties efficiently since the party's inception in 1972.",
  "summary": "In an undated letter, they allege that the AIADMK general secretary \"disregarded\" senior BJP leader Amit Shah's proposal of alliance for the 2021 Assembly election. They also accuse him of having missed an opportunity to have an alliance with TVK",
  "key_points": [
    "S.P. Velumani and Natham R. Viswanathan blame Edappadi K. Palaniswami for AIADMK's weakening.",
    "They oppose removal of over 400 party members from general council and executive committee.",
    "Leaders call for reinstatement of former AIADMK officials to strengthen the party."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}