Vaiko Ends MDMK's Eight-Year Tie with DMK, Announces Support for TVK

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) has withdrawn from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance , with party chief Vaiko accusing the DMK of attempting to facilitate the formation of an AIADMK government after the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Addressing reporters after the party's general council meeting on Saturday, Vaiko announced that the MDMK will support the ruling TVK in the upcoming Assembly by-elections and work towards an alliance with the party for future civic polls.

Explaining the split, Vaiko alleged that post-election political manoeuvring had betrayed the people's mandate and undermined the alliance's professed secular ideology. The MDMK also claimed it was pressured to contest the 2026 Assembly polls on the DMK's Rising Sun symbol , while other alliance partners were allowed to retain their own symbols.

The party adopted a resolution stating that these developments made it impossible to continue with the DMK-led alliance. Vaiko said remaining in the alliance after learning of the alleged attempts to install an AIADMK government would amount to endorsing "political fraud."

The decision comes amid growing friction between Vaiko, his son and Lok Sabha MP Durai Vaiko , and DMK leaders. It also follows uncertainty over the status of two MDMK MLAs elected on the DMK symbol, with R. Senthil Selvan joining the DMK while T.M. Rajendran has said he remains with the MDMK.

The MDMK , a constituent of the DMK-led alliance for over eight years, said it had stayed with the coalition to prevent the BJP's expansion in Tamil Nadu but concluded that recent developments had made the partnership untenable.