The Indian National Congress on Friday advised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay against bringing members of the rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam faction into his government, saying such a move would dilute the mandate given by the people. Speaking to PTI, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said voters had elected a government that rejected both the AIADMK and the DMK. He warned that inducting rebel AIADMK legislators could hurt Vijay’s credibility and public goodwill. “Chief minister Vijay does not need the support of any splinter group of AIADMK. In fact, the mandate is for a government that excludes both the AIADMK and the DMK. And he must stay true to that mandate and ignore the splinter group of AIADMK,” Chidambaram said. He added that there was no reason to reward legislators with ministerial positions merely because they had supported the government during the recent trust vote. “And there is no reason for him to take them into the government. If they have voluntarily supported him in the vote of confidence, so be it. But there is no reason to bring them into government. In fact, I would urge him not to bring them into government,” he added. The Congress leader’s remarks come amid growing political turmoil within the AIADMK after 25 of its MLAs voted in favour of Vijay’s government during the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The internal rift deepened after senior leader C V Shanmugam publicly criticised AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, accusing him of weakening the party and leading it towards repeated electoral defeats since the death of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. “The defeat faced by the AIADMK in the recently concluded Assembly elections must be discussed. We need to deliberate and analyse the reasons behind these continuous defeats,” Shanmugam had said. He also alleged that the party’s core ideology had weakened under the present leadership and claimed that several senior leaders and functionaries had been removed from organisational posts. Following the floor test, the EPS faction initiated disciplinary proceedings against leaders accused of violating the party whip. Several leaders, including C V Shanmugam and C Vijayabaskar, were removed from key organisational positions. At present, the Palaniswami camp reportedly has the support of 22 MLAs, while the rebel faction led by S P Velumani and Shanmugam is backed by 25 legislators. Both factions have sought the disqualification of each other’s MLAs under the anti defection law over their voting during the confidence motion moved by the TVK government.