CHENNAI: Refusing to concede to the AIADMK general council's decision to expel him from the party and his post of party coordinator, a defiant O Panneerselvam released a list of 14 newly-appointed district secretaries on Sunday. The AIADMK has 75 party districts in all. On Saturday, OPS had reinstated all those expelled from the party prior to the July 11 general council meeting.
With the current structure including a majority of district secretaries backing AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, OPS issued a statement appointing the new district secretaries, many of them his loyalists. Almost all those appointed to the new posts, barring Kovai K Selvaraj (the new propaganda secretary) had remained silent or non-committed during the leadership crisis. R Gopalakrishnan, a supporter of OPS, appointed as the Madurai urban district secretary, (a post held by former minister Sellur K Raju) said he was confident of discharging his duties for the benefit of the party. "My appointment once again strengthens the party's dictum that posts are for cadres, not leaders, and that even an ordinary person can come up the ranks," he said.
