The Executive Committee and the General Council meeting
of the main Opposition AIADMK–the first after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Edappadi K.Palaniswami was officially elected as General Secretary of the party–
began here on Tuesday.
More than 2,000 EC and General Council members are attending the key meeting
of the party being held at a marriage hall at suburban Vaanagaram, the usual venue
where such meetings are being held. even during the leadership of former Chief
Minister J.Jayalalithaa.
This is the first EC and General Council meeting held after the election of Leader of
the Opposition in the State Assembly Edappadi K. Palaniswami as general secretary
of the AIADMK in March this year.
On March 28 this year, moments after the Madras High Court dismissed the interim
pleas filed by former AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and a few of his
supporters against the resolutions of the July 11, 2022 general council meeting and
the consequent general secretary election, Mr Palaniswami–who was elected as
General Secretary and results with held due to litigation–was formally declared elected
as the party’s general secretary.
The earlier GC meeting held on June 23, 2022, where Mr Palaniswami was elected to
the post as interim GS much against the wishes of Mr Panneerselvam, who was booed
for opposing the single leadership of Mr Palaniswami, was declared invalid by the court
on a plea by Panneerselvam leading to the convening of the July 11, 2022 meeting with
court permission where key decisions were taken.
At the AIADMK headquarters, party election commissioners Pollachi V. Jayaraman
and Natham R.Viswanathan handed over the letter of appointment to him. Till that
date, Mr.Palaniswami had functioned as the interim general secretary.
A month later, the Election Commission also recognised Mr. Palaniswami as the
general secretary of the party and approved the changes made in the party bylaws,
subject to any court direction.
It may be recalled that the July 11, 2022 meet of the AIADMK general council, the
party’s highest decision-making body, had expelled Mr.Panneerselvam and his aides
for alleged anti-party activities in the wake of the leadership tussle involving him
and Mr Palaniswami.
Mr Palaniswami, the Salem strongman, wielded support from a majority of the
Party district secretaries, leaders and functionaries and emerged as the undisputed
‘single leader’ of the party which previously had a dual leadership with Pannnerselvam
and Mr. Palaniswami as the coordinator and joint coordinator, respectively.
Only earlier this week, the High Court rejected a plea by former interim general
secretary of the party, V.K. Sasikala–who was also subsequently expelled from
the party along with her nephew TTV Dhinakaran wo was made Deputy General
Secretary by her just before leaving for a Bengaluru prison in February 2017 after
her conviction in a DA case– seeking to declare that she remained in the post
since her appointment to the post on December 29, 2016.
Today’s meeting is being held ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due in 4-5 months
time.
The meeting is expected to discuss the strategy to be adopted for the upcoming
Lok Sabha polls and was chaired by AIADMK Presidium Chairman Tamilmagan
Hussain.
This is also the first top meeting of the party after Mr.Palaniswami, had in September,
made a sudden announcement that AIADMK was snapping its four-year-old ties with
the BJP, and also quit the National Democratic Alliance.
It is under these circumstances that the general council meeting began to extensively
deliberate on the party’s preparations, strategy and prospects for the Lok Sabha election,
slated for April-May next year.
Ever since the demise of Ms Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the AIADMK had suffered
reversals in three successive elections starting from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 2021
Assembly polls and the elections to Urban and rural Local bodies, besides the Assembly
bypolls to the Erode East constituency.
With the AIADMK time and again reiterating that there was no question of reviving its
ties with the Saffron party, several resolution, including the key one authorising
Mr Palaniswami to decide the party’s strategy for the polls, including forging alliances
with like-minded parties or to go it alone, will be adopted.
Resolutions condemning the ruling DMK on its handling of the Cyclone situation in
Chennai and neighbouring districts and the recent very heavy extreme rains in four
southern districts, that led to several damages to road and other infrastructure, are
also likely to be adopted at the meeting.
