Sixth AIADMK MLA Resigns, Expected to Join Ruling TVK
Karur MLA and former transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar resigned from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday, becoming the sixth legislator from the AIADMK to quit within weeks of the 2026 Assembly election.
Vijayabhaskar personally submitted his handwritten resignation to Speaker J C D Prabhakar at the Secretariat. The Speaker accepted it, stating it complied with Rules 21 and 22 of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Assembly.
Sources in the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) said Vijayabhaskar is expected to join the party later this week, continuing a political migration that has steadily weakened the principal opposition. Vijayabhaskar had narrowly retained the Karur constituency in the 2026 Assembly election, defeating TVK candidate V P Mathiyalagan by 1,821 votes after polling 71,542 votes. A former minister under late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, he had lost the constituency to the DMK’s V Senthil Balaji in 2021 before reclaiming it this year.
