“Jayalalitha is permanent general secretary of AIADMK after MGR’s demise”: O Paneerselvam

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 21 (ANI): AIMIM leader O Paneerselvam on Monday attacked the Edapaddi K Palaniswami (EPS) faction, accusing them of betraying party regulations.

Addressing an event on Monday, OPS said, “After MGRs demise, our leader Jayalalithaa was the permanent general Secretary of the AIADMK. The one who wants to be party chief should be elected by party cadres only.”
“At the AIADMK General Council, the party laws were betrayed,” he added.

OPS further said, “We have started the second ‘Dharma Yudham’ to save the party laws which was founded by MGR and followed by Jayalalitha. Our aim is to make sure that the real cadres of Amma become the next chief minister and party’s coordinator, deputy coordinator.”

Regarding the Erode (East) bye-elections, OPS said they have accepted the Supreme Court verdict on the bypolls

“We bow our heads and accept the Supreme Court verdict. The people’s verdict is above all,” he said.

He further said the people’s verdict will be known on March 2.

“There is no respect for them (EPS faction) on the ground with respect to the Erode bye-election. The same will be amply clear on March 2 when the verdict will be out,” he said.

Other than this, four major resolutions were passed during the meeting chaired by O Paneerselvam (OPS). These were firstly to retrieve the AIADMK from the “dictatorial and betrayal” group. Secondly, an acknowledgement that ‘Amma’ (Jayalalithaa) remains the permanent general secretary of the AIADMK (even in death). Thirdly, the meeting arrived at a consensus that the appointment for all party posts will be done soon. And lastly, the birth anniversaries of MGR and Jayalalitha will be celebrated as three grams festivals in March later this year.

Earlier, the Election Commission approved the ‘two leaves’ symbol for All India AIADMK, in what seemed to be a marginal victory for the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the AIADMK General Council to pass a resolution on the party’s candidate in the upcoming bye-election to Erode (East) constituency of Tamil Nadu.

The bypoll was scheduled to be held on February 27 and the counting of votes will be done on March 2.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of the Congress MLA Thirumagan, the great-grandson of social reformer ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy and son of former Union minister EVKS Elangovan.

BJP has officially announced its support to the candidate of the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction of the AIADMK in the upcoming bypoll. The EPS faction of the AIADMK has fielded KS Thennarasu as its candidate for the seat.

BJP state president K Annamalai issued a letter of support for the candidature of KS Thennarasu.

The same followed the withdrawal of the candidature of the nominee from the O Panneerselvam (OPS) faction, T Senthilmurugan.

The Congress has declared former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief EVKS Elangovan as the party’s candidate for the February 27 bypoll to the Erode (East) Assembly constituency. (ANI)

The AIADMK has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator, since the demise of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2016. The clamour for a single leader in the party has been growing louder since the district secretary meeting on June 14, 2022.

On July 11, 2022, at the General Council meeting of the AIADMK, Edappadi K Palaniswami was elected as the interim general secretary of the party.