AIADMK meet to chose leader of opposition remains inconclusive

Chennai: On a day that MK Stalin was sworn in as chief minister, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) couldn’t decide on its leader of opposition as the power tussle between Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam continued

Chennai: On a day that MK Stalin was sworn in as chief minister, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) couldn’t decide on its leader of opposition as the power tussle between Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam continued.

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The AIADMK’s newly elected MLAs and senior party leaders got together in their party headquarters in Chennai for more than three hours until 9pm Friday but the decision remained inconclusive. A statement from the AIADMK said that they will reconvene on May 10 under the leadership of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam. “We thought we could resolve the issues today but it will take a few days time,” said a former AIADMK minister not wishing to be named.

Before the start of the meeting on Friday, supporters of both leaders got into a verbal argument over who should be leader of opposition, an important position which will decide the future of the party as well the leader’s. Inside the meeting, the legislators and leaders were expected to discuss their performance and factors that led to the loss.

Since Palaniswami contested as the chief minister candidate, increased his margin of win by defeating DMK’s candidate by 92,849 votes in Edappadi constituency in Salem district and helped increase the party’s tally which performed the best in western region from where he and his former top ministers hail, he was expected to be chosen as the opposition leader. But the Panneerselvam camp is putting up a resistance.

This isn’t the first time that the party is facing such a crisis. Before, outgoing chief minister Palaniswami was decided as the candidate for the top job, Pannerselvam resisted for more than two weeks before giving in and making the announcement himself in October 2020. While Palaniswami is the party’s joint co-ordinator, outgoing deputy chief minister Pannerselvam is the coordinator of the AIADMK. The dual leadership has been maintained in party administration and governance but simmering tension between the duo has come up every now and then over important decisions over position.

After J Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, V K Sasikala briefly held the reins of the party but after her imprisonment in February 2017, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam joined hands and ousted Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. The latter floated AMMK with a rebel faction of Sasikala supporters with the intention of reclaiming the AIADMK. After her release, Sasikala expected her loyalists to return to her but as Palaniswami- Paneerselvam had put up a united front and solidified the party, there was no exodus. Sasikala eventually decided to step away from politics. With trouble brewing in the party now it remains to be seen how AIADMK will resolve these challenges.

Meanwhile, the DMK appointed its MLA Kovai Chezhiyan as the government’s chief whip.