Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) was on Monday elected as AIADMK’s interim General Secretary at its General Council meeting held in Chennai. This comes after the termination of dual-leadership structure in the party.
This outcome, which comes after the Madras High Court permitted the biggest opposition party in Tamil Nadu to convene its General Council meeting, is a defeat for O Pannerselvam (OPS), the party’s former coordinator, who had asked the court for a stay. The General Council meeting, which was presided over by Presidium Chairman A Tamil Mahan Hussain and led by E. Palaniswami at the party office in Vanagaram, passed the HC order at 9 a.m. Up to 16 resolutions were approved during the meeting, including one that prohibited dual leadership, established the position of deputy general secretary, and ensured that the position would be filled by the party’s core members. In a year, the party election will be held.
The second resolution asked for E V Ramasamy “Periyar,” C N Annadurai, and future chief minister J Jayalalithaa to receive the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
The party has been operating under a dual leadership structure since Jayalalithaa’s passing in 2016, with EPS serving as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. Since the district secretary meeting on June 14 of this year, the call for a single head of the party has been increasingly stronger.
In the meantime, supporters of the EPS and OPS groups battled in Chennai’s streets before to today’s court decision. The altercation resulted in some injuries.
A stone hurled at the party headquarters by EPS supporters struck Krishnamurthy, the district secretary of Kolathur and an OPS supporter. Prior to the gathering, OPS and EPS supporters threw stones at one another and set banners and posters on fire. Outside the AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah, OPS supporters demonstrated.
OPS supporters were seen using slippers to hit E Palaniswami’s picture in the visuals. Some OPS supporters were spotted trying to force open the AIADMK office door.
