M. G. Ramachandran era (1972–1987) , the first general secretary of the party The party was founded on 17 October 1972, as
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) by
M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), a veteran
Tamil film star and popular politician. It was set up as a breakaway faction from the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after its president
M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party
treasurer. M.G.R., who wanted to start a new political party, then incorporated it into
Anakaputhur Ramalingam's party, which had registered under the name
ADMK. He then quoted, "I joined the party started by an ordinary cadre" and gave the post of
Member of the
Legislative Council to Ramalingam. On 12 September 1976, M. G. Ramachandran added the prefix “All India” (AI) to the party’s name during its General Council meeting held in Coimbatore, a move intended to safeguard the party under the provisions of the
Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Since its inception, the relationship between the AIADMK and the DMK has been marked by mutual hatred. M.G.R. used his fan club to build the party cadre; he claims his party recruited more than a million members in the first two months.
C. N. Annadurai's ideologue and movie producer turned politician
R. M. Veerappan was the key architect in unifying M.G.R. fan clubs and further consolidating the party structure in the 1970s. Other key leaders, such as
Nanjil K. Manoharan and
S. D. Somasundaram, played major roles in consolidation, and Pavalar M. Muthusamy was elected as the first presidium chairman of the party. Then
Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary
M. Kalyanasundaram strongly backed M.G.R. and played a crucial role in shaping his political career by teaming up with the fledgling AIADMK. M.G.R., along with Kalyanasundaram, presented to the
governor of Tamil Nadu,
K. K. Shah, a charge against the Karunanidhi-led DMK
government in November 1972. The party's first victories were the wins of
K. Maya Thevar in the
Dindigul parliamentary bye-election in May 1973 and of
C. Aranganayagam in the
Coimbatore West assembly bye-election a year later. Six MLAs from the
DMK joined MGR following his expulsion from the party in October 1972. They were K. Kalimuthu, G. R. Edmund, Munu Adhi, C. Aranganayagam, S. M. Durairaj, and P. Soundarapandiyan. By 1 November 1972, the number of DMK defectors supporting MGR had risen to nine MLAs and two Members of Parliament. The MPs were S. D. Somasundaram, the DMK Lok Sabha member from Thanjavur, and K. A. Krishnaswamy, a DMK member of the Rajya Sabha. On 2 April 1973, the AIADMK emerged as the third-largest political party in Tamil Nadu, represented by 11 MLAs in the assembly. By January 1976, the AIADMK emerged as the second-largest political party with 16 MLAs in the assembly. Extending its support to the
National Emergency between 1975 and 1977, the party grew very close to the
Indian National Congress (INC). In 1974, AIADMK contested its first
assembly election in
Puducherry with its alliance partner
CPI and won 14 of 30 seats in the
legislative assembly. On 6 March 1974,
S. Ramassamy was sworn in as
chief minister of Puducherry for the short-lived
government and became the first
chief minister from the party after its establishment. In
Tamil Nadu, the
Karunanidhi-led
state government was dismissed by the
Indira Gandhi-led
central government on corruption charges in 1976. The AIADMK swept to power, defeating the DMK in the
1977 assembly election. On 30 June 1977,
M.G.R. was sworn in as the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu, becoming the first
actor to become the
chief minister in the Republic of India. In the
1977 general election, the party won 18 seats, and in the
Puducherry assembly election, it won 14 seats and formed the
government. On 2 July 1977,
S. Ramassamy was sworn in as
chief minister of Puducherry for a second term. In 1979, the AIADMK became the first
Dravidian and regional party to join the
Union Cabinet in the history of the Republic of India.
Sathiavani Muthu and
Aravinda Bala Pajanor were the
members of parliament who joined the short-lived
Union Ministry led by
Prime Minister Charan Singh. The relationship between the AIADMK and the
INC slowly became strained. In the
1980 general election, the INC aligned with the DMK, and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. The AIADMK won just two seats. After returning to power,
Indira Gandhi dismissed many
state governments belonging to the opposition parties, including the AIADMK
government in
Tamil Nadu. In 1980, AIADMK contested its second
assembly election in
Tamil Nadu, allied with left parties, and won as the single majority party in the
state assembly with 129 of 234 seats. On 9 June 1980, M.G.R. was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a second term, whereas the opposition
DMK continued its alliance with the
central government ruling
INC(I) following the last
general election and got a completely reversed result. The victory solidified M.G.R.'s position as a prominent leader in Tamil Nadu, further strengthening the AIADMK's influence in the state's political landscape. Meanwhile, the DMK faced significant challenges as it grappled with the consequences of its alliance, leading to a period of introspection and re-evaluation of its strategies for future elections. On 4 June 1982,
M.G.R.'s famous on-screen pair and popular
actress J. Jayalalithaa joined the party. Her entry into politics marked the beginning of her rapid ascent within the party. On 28 January 1983,
general secretary P. U. Shanmugam appointed her as the propaganda secretary. She was elected as a
member of parliament to
Rajya Sabha on 3 April 1984 by defeating
Arcot N. Veerasamy of the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam via indirect
election. In the
1984 general election, the party again aligned with the
INC, and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. During the
1984 assembly election,
M.G.R. was in failing health and hospitalised in the
United States for treatment, undergoing a kidney transplant; even though he was not in the country, the party won the election by winning 132 seats. M.G.R. returned to
Tamil Nadu on 4 February 1985 following his recovery. He was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third term on 10 February 1985. Many political historians consider M.G.R.'s persona and charisma at this time to be "infallible" and a logical continuation of his on-screen "good lad" image, strengthened by his "mythical status" in the minds of the masses. M.G.R. continued to enjoy popular support in his third term until his death. He died on 24 December 1987 and became the second chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office after
Anna.
Succession conflict between the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions A week after following M.G.R.'s death, on 1 January 1988,
member of parliament J. Jayalalithaa was elected
general secretary of the party by the prominent members, and it was ratified by the party general council convened by her the next day. On the other hand,
M.G.R.'s wife,
V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, was elected the party's legislative leader by
R. M. Veerappan and 98 other
members of the
legislative assembly. She was sworn in as the state's first
female chief minister on 7 January 1988, becoming the first
actress to become the
chief minister in the Republic of India, and served for 23 days until the state assembly was dissolved and
president's rule was imposed on 30 January 1988. The party began to split due to infighting, splitting into two factions, one led by Jayalalithaa and the other led by Janaki. On 31 January 1988, the AIADMK headquarters on Lloyds Road, Royapettah, Chennai, was sealed for the first time in the party’s history following the split. The action came about 15 hours after the dismissal of the Ministry headed by V. N. Janaki Ramachandran and the imposition of President’s Rule, due to a dispute between rival factions. The building was taken over by authorities led by then Chennai Police Commissioner
Walter Devaram. The property had been purchased by Janaki in 1957 and donated to the party in July 1986. The dispute reached the Madras High Court and later the Supreme Court of India. In May 1988, the Supreme Court allowed V. N. Janaki Ramachandran to retain the headquarters as a “receiver” for two months and directed the Additional District Magistrate to decide the issue, while also setting aside the High Court’s earlier orders that had restrained the J. Jayalalithaa faction. In July 1988, the Magistrate ordered Janaki to hand over the office to the Jayalalithaa faction, which she complied with. However, on 31 January 1989, the High Court quashed the Magistrate’s order on Janaki’s petition, though the decision was stayed by the Supreme Court a week later. Meanwhile, some senior leaders of Jayalalithaa’s faction
V. R. Nedunchezhiyan,
Panruti Ramachandran,
Aranganayagam and
Thirunavukkarasar formed a four member front and began functioning independently due to differences with her. In response, Jayalalithaa, addressing a party meeting in Thanjavur on 17 August 1988, referred to them as “fallen hair strands” and urged party cadres to ignore them. As the
1989 assembly election approaches, on 17 December 1988, the
Election Commission of India froze the AIADMK electoral symbol "Two Leaves", called the
Brahmastra of the party, and allotted Jayalalithaa the "Rooster" electoral symbol in the name of AIADMK(J) and Janaki the "Twin Pigeon" electoral symbol in the name of AIADMK(JA). In the 1989 assembly election, both factions contested the election with their symbols and alliances, which led the
DMK to regain power after 13 years, with
M. Karunanidhi returning as the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third term. Due to its split, the AIADMK suffered heavily in the election, with the Jayalalithaa and Janaki factions winning only 27 and 2 seats, respectively. Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK(J) became the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. The Janaki-led AIADMK(JA) routed the election; she realised that politics wasn't her thing and chose to quit. On 7 February 1989, the factions merged under the leadership of Jayalalithaa. Thereafter, the
chief election commissioner R. V. S. Peri Sastri unfreezed the electoral symbol Two Leaves and granted it back to the Jayalalithaa-led united AIADMK on 8 February 1989. This pivotal moment marked a significant turnaround for the party, establishing Jayalalithaa as a formidable force in
Tamil Nadu politics. Following the merger of the party factions, the party headquarters remained under Jayalalithaa’s control, after she was unanimously elected general secretary.
J. Jayalalithaa era (1989–2016) , the longest served general secretary of the party On 9 February 1989,
J. Jayalalithaa was elected the party's legislative leader and became the first and only female
leader of the opposition in the
Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. She was the first
actress to become the
leader of the opposition in the Republic of India. On 25 March 1989, a barbaric attack was unleashed on Jayalalithaa by the
DMK ministers and
members of the
legislative assembly in the presence of the
chief minister M. Karunanidhi and the
speaker M. Tamilkudimagan. During the attack, the bundles of papers, pads, and large books were thrown over her; also, her saree was pulled and torn, and some of her hair was grabbed. AIADMK legislators, including
Su. Thirunavukkarasar and
K. K. S. S. R. Ramachandran, tried hard to protect and eject her from the assembly. She came out of the assembly after a disastrous moment with her torn saree and deformed hair, drawing a parallel with the shameful disrobing of
Draupadi in the epic
Mahabharata, vowing to return to the assembly only after becoming the
chief minister. In the
1989 general election, the party allied with the
Indian National Congress (INC), and the alliance won 39 of 40 seats it contested in
Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry. The AIADMK headquarters was sealed for the second time on 12 August 1990 after a group led by expelled leader
S. Thirunavukkarasar entered the premises and clashed with supporters of Jayalalithaa. A dispute later arose over whether the police or revenue officials had sealed the building, with then Chennai Police Commissioner K. K. Rajasekharan Nair stating that the police had not done so. As the case reached the Supreme Court of India, the premises remained under an Executive Magistrate’s custody for nearly four months under Section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (India).In December 1990, the court restored the headquarters to the party and directed that the keys be handed over to J. Jayalalithaa, which was carried out by her counsel on 19 December. In January 1991, the
Chandra Shekhar-led
central government dismissed the
Karunanidhi-led
state government on charges that the constitutional machinery in the state had broken down. After
Rajiv Gandhi's death, the
AIADMK-led Alliance swept the
1991 assembly election and regained power. headed by Jayalalithaa on 24 June 1991 On 24 June 1991,
Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu, becoming the second
actress to become the
chief minister in the Republic of India. She also became the second
female chief minister of Tamil Nadu after
M.G.R.'s wife,
V. N. Janaki Ramachandran. Political observers have ascribed the landslide victory to the anti-incumbent wave arising out of the assassination of the former
prime minister by suspected Tamil separatists fighting for a homeland in neighbouring
Sri Lanka. In the
1996 assembly election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance suffered a massive rout; the party only won 4 of 234 seats and not even got an opposition status in the
assembly. Even the
general secretary Jayalalithaa, lost to
E. G. Sugavanam of
DMK in the
Bargur constituency, from where she was elected to become
chief minister for her first term. The party also lost all the seats it contested in the
1996 general election. On 3 June 1997, a rebel faction of the AIADMK led by S. Thirunavukkarasar convened a parallel general council meeting in Chennai, where J. Jayalalithaa was expelled from the party and Thirunavukkarasar was declared general secretary. The development followed Jayalalithaa’s expulsion of Thirunavukkarasar on 19 May 1997, amid growing dissent within the party after its defeat in the 1996 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, with several leaders rallying behind him and attempting to form a rival faction. Jayalalithaa’s own general council meeting, held the same day, reaffirmed her leadership and endorsed his expulsion. The Madras High Court later ruled that the meeting convened by Thirunavukkarasar was illegal and void, as he was not authorised to convene the party’s general council against the elected general secretary Jayalalithaa. In the following months, several leaders from the rebel camp returned to the party led by Jayalalithaa. From 1 January 1998 to 3 January 1998, the conference of the AIADMK Silver Jubilee Celebrations was held in
Tirunelveli, led by the
general secretary Jayalalithaa, and lakhs of party cadres and supporters attended the event. At the conference, the party virtually launched its general election campaign in
Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry in the presence of the alliance partners
L. K. Advani of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
S. Ramadoss of the
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK),
Subramanian Swamy of the
Janata Party (JP),
Valappaddy K. Ramamurthy of the
Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress (TRC), and
Vaiko of the
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) participated in the conference ahead of the general election that year. During the
1998 general election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance won 30 of 40 seats it contested in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Sedapatti R. Muthiah,
M. Thambidurai,
R. K. Kumar, and
Kadambur M. R. Janarthanan were the
members of parliament from AIADMK who joined the
Union Ministry led by
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On 8 April 1999, AIADMK members of parliament resigned from the union ministry, and on 14 April 1999, Jayalalithaa submitted a letter to the
president K. R. Narayanan, withdrawing its support for the Vajpayee-led
central government, and the president called for a
motion of no-confidence to be held in the
parliament. On 17 April 1999, Vajpayee lost in a motion of no-confidence called by Jayalalithaa in a single vote, which led to the government's fall. This incident made the entire country look back at Jayalalithaa. In the
1999 general election, the AIADMK allied with the
INC and left parties and won 14 of 40 seats it contested in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In the
2001 assembly election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance, consisting of the
Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (TMC(M)), the
Indian National Congress (INC), the
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and the left parties, won 197 seats to the AIADMK's 132 and regained power. ( In Chennai region, they won 10 out 16 seats) On 14 May 2001,
Jayalalithaa was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a second term and became the second
chief minister to take oath as a non-contested member in the assembly election after
V. N. Janaki Ramachandran. Due to the proceedings in a disproportionate asset case, she was prevented from holding office, so she was compelled to resign from the post. Then she appointed first-time elected
member of the
legislative assembly O. Panneerselvam as the legislative leader of the party. On 21 September 2001, he was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first term. Once the
Supreme Court of India overturned her conviction and sentence in the case, Panneerselvam resigned from the post immediately on the morning of 2 March 2002, and on the same evening, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the third term. She encouraged women to join the state police force by setting up all-women's police stations and commissioning 150 women into the elite-level police commandos in 2003, a first in India. The women had the same training as men, which included handling weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseback riding, and adventure sports. She dispatched a special task force in the name of
Operation Cocoon, headed by
K. Vijay Kumar and
N. K. Senthamarai Kannan, to the
Sathyamangalam forests in October 2004 to track down notorious sandalwood smuggler
Veerappan. The operation was successful, as the special task force killed him on 18 October 2004. Despite the popular measures taken by the
Jayalalithaa-led
government, the
AIADMK-led Alliance lost all 40 seats it contested in the
2004 general election. The
Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election. In the
2006 assembly election, the party contested only with the support of the
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK),
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and a few other smaller parties, winning 69 seats, with the AIADMK winning 61 seats.For the first time, the AIADMK secured 7 of the 14 seats in the DMK stronghold of Chennai City alone in an election widely regarded as lacking a clear wave. The opposition's
Democratic Progressive Alliance, comprising larger parties, won 163 seats, with the
DMK winning 96 seats; the DMK is back in power but only as a
minority government. In the history of
Tamil Nadu, it was the first time the state had a hung
assembly with a minority government. The AIADMK's electoral reversals continued in the
2009 general election. However, the party's performance was better than its debacle in 2004, and the
AIADMK-led Alliance managed to win 12 seats, with the AIADMK winning 9 seats. headed by
Jayalalithaa on 16 May 2011 Following widespread corruption, a price rise, a power cut, and allegations of nepotism against the
DMK government, in the
2011 assembly election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance with parties like the left and
actor-turned-politician Vijayakant's
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) swept the polls, winning 203 seats, with the AIADMK winning 150 (they won 14 seats out 16 seats in captial chennai), and on 16 May 2011,
Jayalalithaa was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a fourth term. Rangasamy, on the other hand, formed the
government without consulting the AIADMK and refused to share power with the pre-election alliance partner. So
Jayalalithaa accused him of betraying the coalition. On 9 February 2014, the
general secretary of the AIADMK and the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa donated a 13-kg gold armour to adorn the 3.5-foot-tall
Pasumpon U. Muthuramalinga Thevar statue at the U. Muthuramalinga Thevar temple in Pasumpon,
Ramanathapuram. This armour is kept safely in a locker at the
Bank of India's Anna Nagar branch in
Madurai. After the AIADMK
treasurer signs the bank, the shield will be handed over to the treasurer, who will then hand it over to the temple trustees from October 28 to 30, which is the Guru Pooja and
Thevar Jayanthi observed on October 30 every year. The AIADMK's electoral performance continued to be excellent in the
2014 general election as well. It opted not to join any alliance and contested all seats in the
state of
Tamil Nadu and the
union territory of
Puducherry on its own. The party won an unprecedented 37 out of the 40 parliamentary constituencies it contested and emerged as the third largest party in the
16th Lok Sabha of the
Indian Parliament. It was a massive victory that no other regional political party had ever achieved in the history of general elections. On 29 August 2014, the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa was elected as the
general secretary of the party for the 7th consecutive term, making her the longest-serving general secretary of the party to date. Earlier, she was elected as general secretary on 1 January 1988, 9 February 1989, 23 June 1993, 23 September 1998, 10 September 2003, and 10 September 2008. During her longest tenure as general secretary, E. V. A. Vallimuthu,
V. R. Nedunchezhiyan,
K. Kalimuthu,
Pulamaipithan,
C. Ponnaiyan, and
E. Madhusudhanan served as the presidium chairmen of the party. On 27 September 2014, the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa was convicted in the
disproportionate assets case by a special court along with her associates
V. K. Sasikala, Ilavarasi, and V. N. Sudhakaran and sentenced to four years' simple imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was also fined ₹100 crore, and her associates were fined ₹10 crore each. The case had political implications, as it was the first time a ruling
chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence. Due to
Jayalalithaa's dismissal, the
minister for finance and public works of Tamil Nadu Panneerselvam was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a second term on 29 September 2014. Bail for Jayalalithaa was denied by the High Court and then moved to the
Supreme Court, where it was granted on 17 October 2014. On 11 May 2015, the
High Court of Karnataka said she was acquitted from that case, and on 23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a fifth term. It was the most audacious decision taken by her for the spectacular victory that any political leader had ever made in the history of
Tamil Nadu elections. On 23 May 2016, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a sixth and last term. On 22 September 2016, she was admitted to
Apollo Hospital,
Chennai, due to fever and dehydration. After a prolonged illness, she
died on 5 December 2016 and became the third
chief minister in
Tamil Nadu to die in office after
Anna and her mentor
M.G.R. Following her death, a
robbery and murder took place at Jayalalithaa's Kodanadu estate on 24 April 2017. The incident later became a politically sensitive issue within the AIADMK and among the public.
Expansion beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Under the leadership of
Jayalalithaa, the party spread beyond
Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry. It established state units in some other
Indian
states and
union territories, like the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka,
Kerala,
Maharashtra, the
National Capital Territory of Delhi, and
Telangana. The party also has functionaries and supporters in other countries where Tamil people are present. In
Karnataka, the party had members in the
state assembly from 1983 to 2004 and has influence in the Tamil-speaking areas of
Bengaluru and
Kolar. In
Kerala, the party won a total of six wards in three panchayats in the local body elections. In
Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala, and
Maharashtra, the party has contested some legislative assembly elections but did not win a single seat in any of the elections.
V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran era (2016–2017) After Jayalalithaa's death on 5 December 2016, her close aide
V. K. Sasikala was selected unanimously as the Acting General Secretary of the party on 31 December 2016. On 5 February 2017, she was selected as the leader of the legislative assembly as chief minister.
O. Panneerselvam rebelled against Sasikala and reported that he had been compelled to resign as Chief Minister, bringing in a new twist to Tamil Nadu politics. Due to a conviction in the
disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, Sasikala was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment in the
Bengaluru Central Prison. Before that, she appointed
Edappadi K. Palaniswami as legislative party leader (Chief Minister). She also appointed her nephew and former treasurer of the party,
T. T. V. Dhinakaran, as the deputy general secretary of the AIADMK party. With the support of 123 MLAs, Palaniswami became
chief minister of Tamil Nadu. On 23 March 2017, the
Election Commission of India (ECI) gave separate party symbols to the two factions:
O. Panneerselvam's faction, known as AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), got the "Electric Pole" symbol, and
Edappadi K. Palaniswami's faction, known as AIADMK (Amma), got the "Hat" symbol. A
bye-election was announced for the
Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, which was vacated due to Jayalalithaa's death. But the election commission cancelled the bye-election after evidence of large-scale bribery by the ruling AIADMK (Amma) surfaced. On 17 April 2017, Delhi police registered a case against Dhinakaran, who was also the candidate for AIADMK (Amma) for the bye-election at Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, regarding an allegation of attempting to bribe the Election Commission of India for the AIADMK's election symbol. However, the Central District Tis Hazari Courts granted him bail on the grounds that the police had failed to identify the allegedly bribed public official. However, the chief minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, had a fallout with Dhinakaran and announced that the appointment of Dhinakaran as deputy general secretary was invalid. So he claims, "We are the real AIADMK, and 95% of its cadres are with us."
Expulsion of V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran On 12 September 2017, the AIADMK general council, which had earlier appointed her, cancelled
V. K. Sasikala's appointment as general secretary and officially expelled her from the party as a primary member. After completing her imprisonment at
Bengaluru Central Prison, Sasikala filed a case in the City Civil Court IV of
Chennai in February 2021, but it upheld her dismissal as the
AIADMK general secretary in April 2022. On 5 December 2023, the
Madras High Court upheld her dismissal as the AIADMK general secretary. On 24 February 2026, Sasikala launched a New Political Party and Its Flag, thereby effectively giving away her claim over the AIADMK ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.
O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami era (2017–2022) On 21 August 2017, both
O. Panneerselvam and
Edappadi K. Palaniswami factions of the AIADMK merged, and O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as the
Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with the portfolio of Finance. He also holds portfolios for housing, rural housing, housing development, the slum clearance board, accommodation control, town planning, urban development, and the
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. A dual leadership system was amended in the constitution of the party by removing the designation of general secretary and constituting the new designations for the party's leadership. O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami became the coordinator and joint coordinator of the AIADMK, respectively. On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam was elected
Leader of the House in the
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. On 12 September 2017, the AIADMK general council decided to cancel V. K. Sasikala's appointment as acting general secretary and officially expel her from the party, though prominent members appointed to party posts by her were allowed to continue discharging their functions. Instead, the late
J. Jayalalithaa was named the eternal general secretary of the AIADMK. owing allegiance to ousted deputy general secretary
T. T. V. Dhinakaran submitted letters to the
governor, expressing lack of confidence in
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and withdrawing support from the government. On 24 February 2018, AIADMK's new mouthpiece,
Namadhu Amma, a Tamil daily newspaper, was launched, marking the 70th birth anniversary of the former
chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the former general secretary of AIADMK,
J. Jayalalithaa, fondly known as
Amma. On 14 November 2018, the AIADMK launched
News J, named after the AIADMK former general secretary
J. Jayalalithaa, to replace
Jaya TV. News J is the 24×7 Tamil news channel operated and managed by Mantaro Network Private Limited. Despite the popular measures taken by the government, in the
2019 Lok Sabha election, the party, in alliance with the BJP again, was humiliated, winning one of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state. The
Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), a DMK-led alliance consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election by winning 38 seats. In August 2020, there was a bustle in the party over the selection of the chief ministerial candidate. On 7 October 2020, the party coordinator and the
deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu O. Panneerselvam announced that the joint coordinator and the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami, would be the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming
2021 assembly election. In the
2021 assembly election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance, consisting of the
PMK,
BJP, and a few other smaller parties, won 75 seats compared to the 159 seats won by the
DMK-led
Secular Progressive Alliance, which made the DMK form a majority government after the victory of the
1996 assembly election. After the election, the AIADMK emerged as the main opposition party in the
assembly by winning 66 seats. On 10 May 2021, party joint coordinator
Edappadi K. Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the
leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and on 14 June 2021, party coordinator
O. Panneerselvam was elected as the deputy leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. On 15 October 2021, party coordinator
O. Panneerselvam and joint coordinator
Edappadi K. Palaniswami jointly released the notification stating that the headquarters of the party, which is located at V.P. Raman Salai,
Royapettah,
Chennai, will be named
Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai in memory of the party's founder and the former
chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran. In December 2021, they both re-elected as co-ordinator and joint co-ordinator respectively.
Legal fight for the party by V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran After that,
V. K. Sasikala and
T. T. V. Dhinakaran had appealed to the
Delhi High Court, which rejected their appeal and said that
O. Panneerselvam and
Edappadi K. Palaniswami were the original AIADMK. Following that, T. T. V. Dhinakaran filed an appeal with the
Supreme Court of India on March 15, and the bench of the
Chief Justice of India dismissed his appeal against the Delhi High Court's decision in favor of the O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami camp. Following this, the General Council passed a resolution removing V. K. Sasikala from the post of General Secretary. V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran jointly filed a suit in the High Court challenging the decision of the General Council. Since it was a civil case, the case was transferred to the City Civil Court. During the hearing on 9 April 2021, Dinakaran told the court that he would withdraw from the case as he had started a party called
Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam. At the same time, Sasikala told the court that she wanted to continue the case. The court dismissed her plea following an interlocutory application from AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Tensions with BJP In June 2022, the AIADMK and BJP were at odds publicly. AIADMK organization secretary
C. Ponnaiyan accused the
BJP-led
central government of stealing
Tamil Nadu's revenue, as well as blaming AIADMK for election losses, the loss of minority community support, and "anti-Tamil" policies, particularly those affecting students. He also called the alliance an "electoral adjustment", claiming that the BJP was attempting to expand at the cost of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and that its ideology is diametrically opposite that of the AIADMK. The event reportedly had party cadres reiterating these sentiments, albeit in a lighter tone, and agreeing that the BJP was attempting to wrest control of the state's opposition from the AIADMK. On 23 June 2022,
A. Thamizhmahan Hussain was unanimously elected as the
Presidium Chairman of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkataachalapathy Palace in
Vanagaram,
Chennai. On the same day, Presidium Chairman A. Thamizhmahan Hussain announced that the next general council meeting of the party would be held on 11 July 2022. On 30 June 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote a letter to
O. Panneerselvam asserting the latter ceased to be the party coordinator as the amendments made to the party's bylaw in the December 2021 executive committee meeting were not recognized in the general council meeting held on 23 June 2022. ;Expulsion of O. Panneerselvam In the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, the general council members passed the resolution and expelled the former coordinator
O. Panneerselvam, the former deputy coordinator
R. Vaithilingam,
P. H. Manoj Pandian, and
J. C. D. Prabhakar from their respective posts and primary membership in the party for "anti-party" activities. On 11 July 2022, former
chief minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the interim general secretary of the party in the general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in
Vanagaram,
Chennai. Palaniswami appointed
Dindigul C. Sreenivasan as the
treasurer of the party, replacing
O. Panneerselvam. On 19 July 2022, Palaniswami appointed
R. B. Udhayakumar as the deputy
leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, replacing Panneerselvam, who declared this in the party's legislative members meeting held on 17 July 2022. Before the general council meeting, there was violence at the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai in
Royapettah, where the supporters of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam threw stones, bottles, and plastic chairs at each other and damaged several vehicles nearby. Following this, the
Revenue Department of Tamil Nadu sealed the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai for the third time in its history. On 20 July 2022, the
Madras High Court ordered to remove the seal of Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai and hand over the keys to the interim general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami. It was previously locked and sealed on 11 July 2022. On 12 September 2022, the
Supreme Court of India dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the Madras High Court's order to handover the keys to Palaniswami. ;Legal fight for the party between Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam The
Madras High Court on 17 August 2022 ruled in favor of
O. Panneerselvam and declared the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022 which had abolished dual leadership as
void ab initio. The court called for the restoration of the status quo as it existed on June 23 and has prevented the party from convening any meeting of the executive council or the general council of the party without joint consent from both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, thus effectively restoring dual leadership. The court cited procedural lapses to declare the general council meeting held on July 11, invalid and found that there was no data to prove Edappadi K. Palaniswami's claim that 95% of the 1.5 crore (15 million) primary party members supported unitary leadership under him.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami appealed the single-judge court order to a larger bench of judges. Following the order, O. Panneerselvam appealed for party unity, which included the splinter
AMMK group. Palaniswami dismissed this appeal as a power-hungry move by Panneerselvam and held him responsible for violence at the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai. On 2 September 2022, a
division bench of the Madras High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and set aside the previous court order of the single judge in the appeal case of Edappadi K. Palaniswami, thus effectively restoring unitary leadership. On 23 February 2023, the
Supreme Court of India upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the previous order of the
division bench, thus affirming unitary leadership under Edappadi K. Palaniswami. On 19 January 2024, the Supreme Court of India refused to stay the August 2023 order of the division bench of Madras High Court, which dismissed the petitions of
O. Panneerselvam challenging resolutions passed by the general council held on 11 July 2022, that led to the expulsion of O. Panneerselvam and his supporters from the party, saying the interference at this stage will "lead to huge chaos". On 27 February 2026, O. Panneerselvam joined the
DMK in the presence of Its President M. K. Stalin, thereby effectively relinquishing his claim over the AIADMK ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami era (2022–present) serves as the general secretary of the party since July 2022 On 11 July 2022, an AIADMK general council meeting was held at the Shrivaaru Venkataachalapathy Palace in
Vanagaram following the dismissal of a petition by
O. Panneerselvam in the
Madras High Court. The party general council abolished the
dual leadership model, empowered
Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the party's interim
general secretary, and called for organizational elections in 4 months. The general council meeting made 20 amendments to the party bylaws, including the removal of rule 20, which had described the former general secretary
J. Jayalalithaa as the
"eternal general secretary"; reviving the post of general secretary; transferring all the powers of the coordinator and joint coordinator to the general secretary; and abolishing the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator. These changes in the bylaws effectively ended the dual leadership of the party. On 28 March 2023, the
Madras High Court ruled in favour of
Edappadi K. Palaniswami and dismissed the petitions of
O. Panneerselvam challenging the resolutions passed at the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022. On the same day, the electoral officers announced that Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected as the
general secretary of the party. On 20 April 2023, the
Election Commission of India recognised
Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the
general secretary of the party, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to the list of office-bearers. On 10 July 2023, the Election Commission of India recognised the changes made in the party organisation after the party's due election. On 20 August 2023, the Rising Conference of the AIADMK Golden Jubilee Celebrations was held in
Madurai, led by the newly elected
general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, and lakhs of party cadres and supporters attended the event. On 25 September 2023, the party's secretaries advisory meeting, led by
general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, was held in the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai. At the meeting, it was decided to withdraw from the
Bharatiya Janata Party-led
National Democratic Alliance, and it was officially announced by deputy general secretary
K. P. Munusamy after the meeting. In the
2024 general election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance consisting of
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK),
Puthiya Tamilagam (PT), and the
Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) contested in the state of
Tamil Nadu and the union territories of
Puducherry and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the
18th Lok Sabha polls. In the alliance, the AIADMK contested 36 constituencies, and the DMDK contested five constituencies. The party-led alliance lost in all the constituencies it contested, and the
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance swept the election in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. On 19 January 2025, Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced the formation of the "AIADMK Young Generation Sports Wing" to encourage
sportspersons. On 10 February 2025,
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami virtually inaugurated the newly constructed party office located at Sector-VI, Pushp Vihar, M.B. Road,
New Delhi, in the presence of the prominent members and secretaries of the party. The three-storey office building in the
National Capital Territory of Delhi is named
Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. – Puratchi Thalaivi Amma Maaligai in memory of the party's leaders and the former
chief ministers of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran and
J. Jayalalithaa. On 11 April 2025, AIADMK General Secretary
Edappadi K. Palaniswami and
BJP leader and The Union Home Minister
Amit Shah announced their alliance for
2026 TN Assembly election on a Joint Press Conference at Chennai. On 31 October 2025, AIADMK General Secretary
Edappadi K. Palaniswami expelled senior leader and
Gobichettipalayam MLA
K. A. Sengottaiyan from the party. Palaniswami stated that Sengottaiyan had accompanied expelled leader
O. Panneerselvam and
AMMK founder
T. T. V. Dhinakaran in the same car and participated in a joint press conference at Pasumpon during the
Tevar Jayanthi ceremony. Earlier on 5 September 2025, Sengottaiyan urged party general secretary Palaniswami to take steps to reunite expelled and dissenting leaders to restore the party’s strength ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election. In January 2026, AIADMK formed an alliance with former partner PMK and long-time rival of the
T. T. V. Dhinakaran-led AMMK. In the
2026 assembly election, the
AIADMK-led Alliance, consisting of the
BJP,
PMK,
T. T. V. Dhinakaran-led-
AMMK,
TMC(M) and a few other smaller parties, is facing the poll ==Electoral performance==