AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday contested the claim of expelled leader O. Panneerselvam that he was elected as the party coordinator by 1.5 crore primary members in December 2017 and therefore a general council comprising just 2,665 members could not oust him from the party by a resolution passed on July 11.
Appearing before Justice G. Jayachandran, who was seized of a civil suit filed by Mr. Panneerselvam against the general council meeting, senior counsel Vijay Narayan said that not even a single member of the party had cast a vote in favour of the plaintiff in December 2021 since he as well as Mr. Palaniswami were elected unopposed as the coordinator and the joint coordinator respectively owing to the absence of rival nominations.
“My learned friend says that he was elected by 1.5 crore party members but it must be pointed out that not a single vote was cast during the December 2021 election,” Mr. Narayan, representing Mr. Palaniswami, said after senior counsel Guru Krishnakumar and P.H. Arvindh Pandian argued the suit on behalf of Mr. Panneerselvam and advocate A.K. Srirram appeared for the other plaintiff ‘Amman’ Vairamuthu alias P. Vairamuthu.
