Party spokesperson D Jayakumar said on Tuesday that most of the AIADMK district secretaries have fought to hand over the reins of the party to a single leader, as opposed to the current dominant alliance of Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam.
“Most of the district secretaries stressed the need for a single leadership within the party. The party will take a decision on this,” he said after a meeting with district secretaries. The AIADMK has a working council consisting of senior leaders and is governed by the ruling coalition of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam. Jayakumar also said that there was no need to discuss the inclusion of VK Sasikala in the party, as she remains a “non-member”.
AIADMK general council meeting is scheduled to be held on June 25. The party will take up important administrative matters during the meeting, as well as address the issue of the party’s leadership structure.
Since the death of J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the talk about how the party’s leadership needs to be structured for the top post of AIADMK has been raging. After Panneerselvam’s unfortunate rebellion against Sasikala and subsequent merger with the Palaniswami faction, he remains. Palaniswami and his circle of loyalists supervised a leader.
Meanwhile, Sasikala waits as an outside contender for Jayalalithaa’s legacy, releasing audio notes about her glory days with the late chief minister and her impending takeover of the party to script her return to power.
It is in this context that the single leadership expression of the district secretaries needs to be seen. The DMK has been consolidating power, while managing to keep the coalition partners fairly satisfied with the government’s action. AIADMK leaders have been forced to claim that they remain the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu amid a tight-lipped BJP led by their new leader K Annamalai.
Palaniswami and Panneerselvam may have to address the question of a unified leadership inevitably soon, before the ghosts of erosion of political brand equity begin to haunt the party.
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