India, May 27 -- The AIADMK is a political party with nine lives. Since its formation in 1972, this outfit that traces its roots to the Dravidian Movement has survived splits to stay in the race for office. But that was when Tamil Nadu politics was a Dravidian duopoly. May 2026 is different - politics in the state is undergoing a transformation. Can the AIADMK, weakened by multiple splits, retrieve lost ground and endure?

It all depends on how the senior leadership of the AIADMK responds to the crisis. As per the Tamil Nadu electoral pattern, the party was poised to win the April polls. But voters preferred the political start-up, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), whose win recalled the AIADMK's stunning success in 1977, five years aft...