India, May 13 -- All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) on Wednesday removed 25 leaders from their posts within the party.

Among those removed were AIADMK leaders SP Velumani and C V Shanmugam. This came after the AIADMK's rebel MLAs, including Natham R Viswanathan, defied the party's diktat and backed actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay's bid to prove majority the House.

The rebel AIADMK MLAs voted in favour of the TVK government during the confidence motion in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly earlier in the day. After he cracked the whip on these leaders, Palaniswami replaced them and appointed new district secretaries in their places, PTI news agency reported.

The TVK, which emerg...