AIADMK party meeting is to be held on June 23.
Chennai:
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Wednesday resigned himself to the fact that the odds are facing him and his followers ahead of the party meeting on June 23, which is expected to be the only leadership question.
Ahead of the general and executive council meetings, in which joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) is likely to be appointed as the supreme party leader, as he has overwhelming support, Mr. Panneerselvam, popularly known as ‘OPS’ Hai, tweeted that ‘Dharma’ will win again’.
The remarks seem to be a sign that the OPS has begun to reconcile itself to the fact that as of now, their rival EPS has the upper hand in the party and Mr. Panneerselvam is trying to reclaim his rightful position in the party. Whatever has to be done, he will do it.
AIADMK sources indicated that the options being explored by the OPS camp include approaching the Election Commission at the right time for intervention. Already, he had approached the police to deny permission for the meeting, which was denied.
With regard to the dual structure of the party leadership (led by the OPS and the EPS), petitions have been filed in a city court seeking intervention to maintain the status quo.
Expressing displeasure over the attempt of self-immolation by a party worker and supporter, Panneerselvam appealed to the workers not to resort to such extreme measures.
He cited a popular Tamil phrase, which can be roughly translated as “Dharma may be surrounded by a cunning trick, but Dharma will eventually prevail.”
“தத்தின் ; ” .
— O Panneerselvam (@OfficeOfOPS) 22 June 2022
Many well-known OPS supporters like Deputy Secretary KP Munusamy and former minister K Pandiarajan have joined the EPS camp, which is heavily backed by stalwarts like Dindigul Srinivasan and KA Sengottaiyan.
The EPS is the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and the OPS is the Deputy Leader.
More than a dozen resolutions are expected to be passed in the meeting and draft copies, reportedly, have been made available to the OPS camp. It is not clear whether any of them have reference to the leadership question.
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