E-Paper
AIADMK general council meet: Plans afoot to make EPS interim gen secy
OPS and his handful of supporters have rejected this assertion while he continued to identify himself as the coordinator even on Tuesday when he wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi on the matter of Tamil fishermen being arrested.
Chennai: A day after the Madras high court gave reprieve to the faction supporting Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) by making it clear that it will not interfere in AIADMK’s general council meeting on July 11, plans are afoot to make him the party’s interim general secretary.
On Tuesday, AIADMK’s invite to general council members, including Palaniswami’s colleague-turned-foe O Panneerselvam (OPS), showed that EPS will be elected as the interim general secretary on July 11. The party will also decide on the election for the post of general secretary. These are part of 16 draft resolutions on the agenda.
The post of general secretary is the topmost post of the AIADMK held by party founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) and his successor J Jayalalithaa. Following her death in December 2016, her confidante V K Sasikla was made interim general secretary. After Sasikala was imprisoned, EPS and OPS who merged their factions cancelled the appointment in a 2017 general council meeting and introduced new posts where OPS was made coordinator and EPS the joint coordinator. They had made Jayalalithaa the ‘eternal general secretary’ in a move to keep Sasikala out. In December 2021, this dual leadership was solidified when party bylaws were amended, once again to keep Sasikala out and show that EPS-OPS were united.
But it’s the end of the road for the dual leadership now. The invitation reiterated what the EPS faction has been saying -- since the amendments made to the bylaws of the AIADMK on December 1, 2021, for electing coordinator and joint coordinator by a single vote were not ratified by the June 23 general council meeting, the posts have become defunct. They say that the two leaders would continue holding on to their other party posts – EPS as headquarters secretary and OPS as party treasurer.
OPS and his handful of supporters have rejected this assertion while he continued to identify himself as the coordinator even on Tuesday when he wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi on the matter of Tamil fishermen being arrested. A majority of the party has thrown their weight behind EPS for a single leadership while an already sidelined OPS has sought the intervention of the police and courts to save his position.
EPS supporters D Jayakumar and P Benjamin also submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu DGP’s office seeking police protection for the July 11 meeting to be held in Vanagaram on the outskirts of Chennai. Responding to reporters’ question if OPS will be expelled from the party, Jayakumar said that the leadership will take a decision. “Whether it’s a cadre or a leader who indulges in anti-party activities, the party will do its duty,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sasikala, who has been on a political tour since the EPS-OPS slugfest, on Tuesday said that the AIADMK is falling apart in the hands of selfish individuals which will only benefit the ruling DMK. Jayakumar reiterated that Sasikala has no links with the AIADMK after she was ousted back in 2017.
