AIADMK tussle: EPS now party boss as party abolishes dual leadership structure, OPS and his loyalists sacked

The AIADMK’s crucial General Council meeting today revived the General Secretary post, picking Edappadi K Palaniswami as party’s interim General Secretary. The GC meet annulled the dual leadership structure and also terminated the coordinator and joint coordinator posts. The development brings down curtains on long prevailing power tussle between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, the two top leaders of the party.  

Soon after, the party passed a special resolution expelling O Panneerselvam and three of his loyalists. In his address to the GC meeting, senior leader Natham Viswanathan tore into Panneerselvam alleging he had a ‘brutal face’ completely opposite to his reputation as a ‘calm person.’ Viswanathan, a former Minister said Panneerselvam always said one thing and acted completely against it.

Hitting back, Panneerselvam said Palaniswami has no power to expel him because 1.5 crore AIADMK members have chosen him. Responding to his expulsion, O Panneerselvam said he was elected as the Coordinator by "1.5 crore" party workers and that neither EPS nor another leader had the right to expel him.

This came after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, once the chosen successor of late party chief J Jayalalithaa, faced a setback with the Madras High Court refusing to interfere with the general council meeting of AIADMK, stating that the court cannot interfere in the squabbles of a political party. Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy delivered the verdict on Monday morning, which allowed the EPS faction to hold the GC meet, the supreme decision making body of the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu.  

In the meeting, the 2500-plus strong General Council elevated Edappady K Palaniswami as the interim general secretary of the party, abolishing the present dual leadership model. The general council meeting empowered EPS to steer the party, as a single supreme leader in his position as interim general secretary. 

While the AIADMK party office, MGR Maaligai and its vicinity saw some acimonious scenes-- clash between suspected supporters of EPS and OPS and unidentified persons breaking the doors to gain entry into the office, Panneerselvam arrived at the office with his supporters while his rival Palaniswami headed to the wedding hall, hosting the meet, in a different direction. 

#WATCH | O Paneerselvam supporters slap slippers at E Palaniswami's photo as they protest AIADMK's General Council meeting in Vanagaram, Chennai pic.twitter.com/1bLqtnT7To

— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2022

Since last month, the AIADMK has been witnessing serious intra-party wrangling over the issue of single-leadership and Palaniswami has the support of an overwhelming majority and Panneerselvam has been sidelined in the party. It is expected that the AIADMK may soon act against Panneerselvam. 

Panneerselvam was earlier seen as the political heir of late AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa while Palaniswami enjoyed support from party workers. 

Jayalalithaa had twice picked Panneerselvam as the stand-in-CM when she had to step down following her conviction. Though OPS was elevated for the third time just before she died, Jayalalithaa's aide VK Sasikala, who briefly took over the party, replaced him with EPS after he rebelled against her. Later, in a dramatic twist, both EPS and OPS patched up and expelled Sasikala when she was in jail. OPS became the party supremo and Palaniswami his Number 2.