Chennai: AIADMK appears to be headed for a vertical split, with rival factions staking claim to the post of legislative party leader in the 17th Tamil Nadu assembly.Soon after the newly elected MLAs took oath on Monday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami submitted a letter to pro-tem speaker M V Karuppaiah seeking his recognition as leader of the legislature party and Thalavai Sundaram as party whip. Later, the faction led by C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani, submitted separate representations to the pro-tem speaker to recognise Velumani as legislative party leader and C Vijayabaskar as whip. Sources in AIADMK said that eyeing a tie-up with TVK, the Velumani-Shanmugam camp is trying to get the support of at least 32 MLAs to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law. “There is a plan to remove Edappadi K Palaniswami from the post of general secretary,” a source said. Sources in the secretariat said the EPS faction currently enjoys the backing of around 20 of the 47 AIADMK MLAs, while the Velumani-Shanmugam camp has the support of most of the rest. Despite the numbers favouring the rebels, officials indicated EPS could still have an advantage because he is party general secretary. “Palaniswami argued before the pro-tem speaker that, as AIADMK general secretary, he alone was authorised to function as legislature party leader and that party rules support his claim,” sources said.“The rival camp, however, countered by insisting that only a formal meeting of AIADMK MLAs could elect the leader. They submitted signatures of nearly 30 legislators backing Velumani.” Given the competing claims and the possibility of legal and political complications, sources said the pro-tem speaker was unlikely to take an immediate decision. The Palaniswami faction includes Agri S Krishnamurthy, O S Manian, Thalavai Sundaram and K C Karuppannan. The rival bloc has backing from Natham R Viswanathan, R Kamaraj, K C Veeramani and Balakrishna Reddy. The latest crisis marks the third major split in AIADMK’s history. The first followed the death of former chief minister M G Ramachandran in 1987, when the party split between factions led by his widow Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. The second major rupture came after Jayalalithaa’s death, when former chief minister O Panneerselvam rebelled in 2017 before eventually being expelled from the party in 2022.