in 1948 division arose amongst actc members over the party leadership's decision to join the united national party (unp) led government. vanniasingam was one of those who opposed joining the unp government. the dissidents, led by s. j. v. chelvanayakam, e. m. v. naganathan and vanniasingam, eventually left the actc and formed the illankai tamil arasu kachchi (federal party) in 1949. vanniasingam served as president of itak.