On Thursday, Eddapadi K Palaniswami (EKP) dismissed two sons of O Panneerselvam (OPS). Along with him the acting general secretary of the AIADMK also banished 16 other AIADMK leaders from the group.
18 More AIADMK Leaders Expelled from the Party. Chennai: Jeyapradeep and Raveendranath, are the two sons of OPS who are currently out of their All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK party.
Other bigwigs excluded are Theni District Secretary and former MP Syed Khan and former Minister Vellamandi N Natarajan from Theni and the party’s strongman in Tiruchirappalli. Â
Om Shakthi Sekar, an erstwhile legislator from Puducherry, and R Gopalakrishnan, a longtime MP, also lost their name from core membership in the turn of events. Subsequently, former MLA Kovai Selvaraj and AIADMK spokesman Marudhu Alaguraj, who was also the editor of the AIDMK party journal “Namadhu Amma” left the organization.
Then followed by SA Asokan, the district secretary of Kanyakumari East party; VNP Venkatraman, former MLA of Chennai and secretary of AIADMK trade wing; and Kolathur D Krishnamurthy, who was the office-bearer of the MGR youth wing.
Palaniswami described the move as “disciplinary” in an announcement. According to him, all 18 of them have behaved against the party objectives and ideals as well as damaged the institution.
Until now, nearly all of the influential figures who publicly backed Panneerselvam are out of the party as a consequence of what happened earlier.
After this highhandedness of Mr. Palaniswami, Panneerselvam’s side leaders urged the government to take notice that the official apartment has turned into an abode for political activities.
18 More AIADMK Leaders Expelled from the Party: Tussle between EKP and OPS; AIADMK Leaders
With more than 2,500-member, the General Council meeting on July 11 gave EPS the authority to govern the party as its only head. EPS was awarded the position of temporary general secretary of the party. Meanwhile, the AIADMK was in the process of relinquishing its dual-leadership structure, as per the earlier Court’s orders.
The spur of events began when Palaniswami and Panneerselvam’s opposing supporters competed to make the AIADMK party unified under their preferred leaders. A power struggle among them broke out in the Tamil Nadu state politics days back.
Dindukal Srinivasan replaced Panneerselvam as the Party treasurer and OPS was expelled immediately. The party membership of JCD Prabhakar, R Vaithilingam, and PH Manoj Pandian, also ended that day. As per some insider sources, EPS as well as other prominent leaders have also charged OPS with seeking to undermine the AIADMK by aligning with the DMK party
Panneerselvam talked to the media shortly after that and expressed his intention to appeal the outcome in Court. Panneerselvam also slammed Palaniswami and KP Munusamy and said they have violated the party’s democratic norms by preemptively announcing their decision.
“General Council expelling me isn’t valid…we will take legal action according to the law. They don’t have the right to remove me,”
-OPS informed the media.
On 12 July, Madras High Court approved the decisive General Council meeting of the party. Mr. Palaniswami, or EPS, then emerged to be the party’s only highest authority. He was also bestowed with complete authority to make decisions regarding party conduct.
Background of AIADMK and Tamil Nadu State Politics
After the death of the chief leader MS Jayalalitha in Dec 2016, the party was operating under two senior figureheads. O. Panneerselvam, was known as a dependable follower of the late leader, Jayalalithaa. He had also even filled in for her as Chief Minister three times during her tenure.
However, afterward, the party chose O. Panneerselvam as the CM and Palaniswami as the caretaker general secretary. Both are former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu. Palaniswami held the position from Dec 2016 to February 2017 and O Panneerselvam from February 2017 to May 2021.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK is the rivalry party of AIADMK in the State. It is currently the party in power, and its supremo M. K. Stalin is the incumbent Tamil Nadu CM.
