Vanagaram near Chennai, which hosted a unity meeting of the two AIADMK camps five years ago, on Monday saw O Panneerselvam, three-time chief minister, recent coordinator and treasurer, ouster from the organization and election. As Interim General Secretary to Sri Palaniswami.
At the AIADMK general council in Vanagram, a resolution was adopted to abolish the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator, on the grounds that the posts had “existed” as of the election held in December 2021, [re-appointing Mr . Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami coordinator and co-coordinator respectively] It was “not approved” at the General Council held on 23 June. By another resolution, the party approved the adoption of a system of “single leadership” and revived the post of General Secretary, which was abolished in September 2017.
His three aides, two MLAs, R. Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian, and the party’s spokesperson, JCDP Prabhakar, were also dropped from the party. Mr. Panneerselvam’s expulsion was done through a resolution, which was read by the Organization Secretary and Dindigul (East) District Secretary, Natham R. Viswanathan, who was with the former camp five years ago.
Since Mr. Panneerselvam was also relieved of the post of treasurer, Mr. Palaniswami announced that former minister and Dindigul (West) district secretary, Dindigul C. Srinivasan was appointed to the post.
Mr. Panneerselvam, who did not attend the meeting, claimed that he remained the party coordinator and said that he would face the challenge legally with the support of the workers.
The party also decided that the election for the post of general secretary would be held in four months. Till then Mr. Palaniswami will serve as the interim general secretary. It accepted a number of amendments to the bye-laws, most of which centered on Rule 20 and the post of Secretary-General.
Mr Palaniswami, who spoke for the last time in the general council, accused Mr Panneerselvam of “inserting” with the DMK and trying to “destroy” the AIADMK by collaborating with the ruling party. He criticized his former colleague for attempting to block the June 23 general council meeting after he was one of the signatories to the meeting’s notice. Former ministers P. Thangamani, Mr. Viswanathan, K.P. Munusamy and Mr. Srinivasan pulled up Mr. Panneerselvam for bringing down the party. Slogans were raised against Mr. Panneerselvam during the meeting. Tamilmagan Hussain presided over the program.
While assuring the members of the General Council that he would strive for me for AIADMK’s victory in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Palaniswami elaborated on how he rose above the ranks after joining the party in 1974.