Vanagaram near Chennai, which played host five years ago to a unity meet of two camps of the AIADMK, on Monday witnessed the expulsion of O. Panneerselvam, three-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, till recently coordinator and treasurer, from the party, and the election of Edappadi K. Palaniswami as interim general secretary.
The day also saw dramatic developments in the morning with Mr. Panneerselvam and his supporters entering the AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah after breaking open the locks amid a violent clash between rival groups. This led to the Revenue authorities sealing the party office even as Mr. Palaniswami was delivering his ‘victory’ speech at the general council meeting.
The general council meeting of the AIADMK had commenced at a private wedding hall in Vanagaram, shortly after the Madras High Court gave its green signal dismissing a petition filed by Mr. Panneerselvam. The court pulled him up for seeking to achieve through the judiciary what he could not do internally in the party.
‘Single leadership’
At the general council, a resolution was adopted, abolishing the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator, on the ground that the posts had “ceased to exist” as the election, which took place in December 2021, (re-appointing Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami coordinator and co-coordinator respectively) was “not ratified” at the general council held on June 23. By another motion, the party approved the adoption of the system of “single leadership” and revived the post of general secretary, which was scrapped in September 2017.
Three of Mr. Panneerselvam’s associates — two legislators, R. Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian, and the party spokesperson, J.C.D. Prabhakar — were also removed from the party. Mr. Panneerselvam’s expulsion was carried out through a resolution, the text of which was read out by organisation secretary and Dindigul (east) district secretary, Natham R. Viswanathan, who was with the former’s camp five years ago.
As Mr. Panneerselvam was also relieved of his position as treasurer, Mr. Palaniswami announced that former Minister and Dindigul (west) district secretary, Dindigul C. Sreenivasan had been appointed for the post.
Mr. Panneerselvam, who did not attend the meeting, claimed he remained the party coordinator and said he would legally face the challenge with the support of the cadres.
Election in 4 months
The party also decided that the election for the post of general secretary would be held in four months. Till then Mr. Palaniswami would function as interim general secretary. It accepted several amendments to the by-laws, most of which centred on Rule 20 and the post of general secretary.
Mr. Palaniswami, who spoke last at the general council, accused Mr. Panneerselvam of “hobnobbing” with the DMK and seeking to “destroy” the AIADMK by collaborating with the ruling party. He criticised his former colleague for having attempted to stall the June 23 general council meeting after being one of the signatories of the notice for the meeting. Former Ministers P. Thangamani, Mr. Viswanathan, K. P. Munusamy, and Mr. Sreenivasan pulled up Mr. Panneerselvam for having let down the party. Slogans against Mr. Panneerselvam were raised during the meeting. Presidium chairman Tamilmagan Hussain chaired the event.
Deploring violence at the party headquarters earlier in the day, Mr. Palaniswami said many functionaries of the party had been injured in the incident. He held Mr. Panneerselvam responsible for “certain records” of the party having been taken away and the damage caused to properties of the party, including laptops.
Assuring members of the general council that he would strive to make the AIADMK victorious in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Palaniswami explained at length how he rose from the ranks, after joining the party in 1974.
