The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu on Saturday said its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party will continue for the 2021 assembly elections and exuded confidence it will win a hat-trick poll next year.
In apparent signs of thaw after years of bickering stemming out of internal feud in the AIADMK in the past, party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami welcomed Dhinakaran back in to the National Democratic Alliance. The AMMK founder reciprocated with a "heartfelt thanks," yet admitting there was "sibling rivalry" with AIADMK, the party he was once associated with.
Party co-coordinator Palaniswami announced constitution of a 11-member steering committee which includes ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan, P Thangamani, and S P Velumani.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's dominant Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) faction on Friday asserted that the system of dual leadership that vested powers on coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS) and joint coordinator EPS ceased to be in force, a day after the general council stood firm on the single leadership demand.
The amendments mandate a 'single vote' by 'primary members' to elect the top leadership, which is the two positions of coordinator and joint coordinator.
The deposed coordinator, heading a small faction, hopes to consolidate Amma (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa) loyalists to unify the AIADMK factions aiming to coerce another former Chief Minister K Palaniswami, heading the dominant faction, to accept dual leadership in the party.
The decision to sack Raja, a former panchayat body chief hailing from Theni district, was announced by Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator K Palaniswami.
They teamed up with a former AIADMK leader KC Palanisami and appealed to the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and Panneerselvam to merge their factions and strive for the united AIADMK's victory in the 2026 assembly election.
AIADMK coordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, who has also staked his claim for being the chief ministerial candidate of the party in the polls next year, for the second consecutive day held discussions with party leaders at his residence in Chennai.
Though both the Dravidian majors are facing questions on family politics, the ruling party especially finds itself in the dock since its late leader J Jayalalithaa had often used it to target her party's archrival DMK.
The new life size statue is made of bronze and weighs around 800 kg, a little more than the earlier one.
In a disciplinary action, three other functionaries, also belonging to Theni party district like Raja were dismissed.
Raveendranath, the party's Lok Sabha member from Theni constituency and Jeyapradeep, both sons of Panneerselvam and a former Minister, Vellamandi N Natarajan were expelled.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and ousted party leader O Panneerselvam on Tuesday moved the Madras high court against the sealing of the party headquarters by the Tamil Nadu government following violence there on July 11.
In a further setback to deposed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam, the Madras high court on Friday dismissed his appeals against the 2022 general council meet of the party, which among others had elected his rival Edappadi K Palaniswami as interim chief, besides expelling OPS and his aides.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting on Monday revived the general secretary post, and picked Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim GS.
Clad in black shirts, AIADMK coordinator Pannneerselvam and co-coordinator Palaniswami led a silent march
Declaring the organisational poll results to top two posts, party's election official C Ponnaiyan said Panneerselvam and Palaniswami were elected unanimously, without contest to the posts of Coordinator and Joint Coordinator respectively.
Under the deal, the PMK will be supporting the AIADMK in the bypolls expected to 21 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, he said.
The likes of Sengottaiyan can help Vijay navigate it better and faster -- but not necessarily to his goal, which is farther, and can move towards or away from him as well in the weeks and months to come, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The power struggle in Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, appears set to go on for a long time with sidelined leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) approaching the Election Commission and the influential Edappadi K Palaniswami camp refusing to budge.
An All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam youth wing secretary was among the three men arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the sensational 2019 sexual harassment case in Pollachi town, taking the total number of persons held so far to eight.
Paying tribute to Tamil Nadu's former chief minister J Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary, expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader VK Sasikala said that they (the AIADMK and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Katchi) should contest elections together.
The Erode East assembly by-poll suddenly turned the spotlight on Bharatiya Janata Party with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam factions led by K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam rushing to Kamalalayam -- BJP state headquarters in Chennai -- seeking the saffron party's support for their respective parties.
AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was closeted with a section of leaders on Tuesday, skipping a meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Covid-19, a day after the two crossed swords over who should lead the party in the 2021 assembly elections.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Madras high court order allowing Edappadi K Palaniswami to continue as interim general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, establishing his position as the single, supreme leader of the party.
Amid chaos, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting in Chennai on Thursday rejected all the 23 proposed resolutions and announced that the one and only demand of the GC members is to bring in a system of a single leadership for the party, favouring joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).
The court rejected all petitions, including that against the conduct of the party's General Secretary election.
The order passed by Justice G Jayachandran on Wednesday, in effect held invalid the July 11 GC meeting.
A day after tweaking party bylaws to strengthen the present leadership structure of the top two positions held by O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami, the AIADMK on Thursday announced holding elections to the said posts next week.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam coordinator O Panneerselvam on Wednesday appeared to have resigned himself to the fact that the odds are stacked against him and his followers, ahead of the June 23 party meeting which is expected to take up the sole leadership question.
This comes after the Legislature Party meeting had passed a resolution calling for actions against those who spoke to Sasikala, close-aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
Senior advocate C Aryama Sundaram, appearing for EPS, mentioned before a bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy and raised concerns over the problems in filing nominations in the Erode (East) by-election.
Asking her to keep away from the party, senior party leader K P Munusamy asserted that under no circumstances could Sasikala enter the AIADMK.
O Panneerselvam should not be surprised if the current controversy that he has kicked off is used to rid him of the party coordinator's post, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Palaniswami currently helms the party founded by the charismatic M G Ramachandran and nurtured by the redoubtable J Jayalalithaa.
A division bench, comprising Justices M Duraiswamy and Sundar Mohan, set aside an order of a single judge, which nullified the July 11 General Council (GC) meeting of the AIADMK.
Factionalism between OP Panneerselvam and Edappadi Palaniswami, the dominance of the BJP, the ruling DMK having a strong face in the form of CM Stalin, 'community and region-based politics', corruption charges against former ministers, and lack of a proper ideology are the major challenges the party is facing in the state.
Already, the party brass had passed a resolution against admitting her into the organisation and it was seconded by the party's district units across the state, Palaniswami said.
The top court also clarified that the general council of the AIADMK which is to take place on July 11, 2022, may proceed in the accordance with the law.
