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- Jayalalithaa AIADMK Party; Edappadi Palaniswami Permanent Secretary Case
ChennaiOne hour ago
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Palaniswami’s supporters showered his posters with milk after the Supreme Court allowed him to continue as interim general secretary.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Madras High Court judgment allowing Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) to continue as the interim general secretary of the AIADMK (AIADMK). The top court said that this order will not affect the ongoing case in the High Court regarding the dispute between O Panneerselvam (OPS) and EPS.
The petition challenging the High Court’s decision was filed by party leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. The Supreme Court has now dismissed the OPS’s plea against the High Court’s decision on 2 September.
Palaniswami’s supporters celebrated after the Supreme Court’s decision in his favor.
Leader of EPS faction said – Amma’s grace on us
EPS faction leader D Jayakumar said that all party workers are happy with today’s decision. Tomorrow is Amma’s (Jayalalithaa) 75th birthday, we are blessed by her. All leaders except O Panneerselvam, Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran are welcome in AIADMK.
Ahead of the crucial AIADMK meeting in Chennai last year, the rift within the party came to the fore. In the party’s general meeting, it was decided to make Palaniswami the interim general secretary of the AIADMK.
Understand in this way why the conflict in AIADMK
- Since the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual leadership formula with Palaniswami as joint co-ordinator and Panneerselvam as co-ordinator. The EPS faction wanted it to be a single boss leadership while the OPS faction wanted the dual leadership format to continue in the party.
- After the meeting of the district secretary on June 14, the demand for single leadership in the party intensified. Both the factions held talks several times to resolve it but failed. OPS had also written a letter to EPS asking for cancellation of the General Committee meeting citing the confused state of the party. However, the EPS did not accept it.
- The OPS faction had rejected 23 proposals of the General Committee members last month. Palaniswami’s camp was about to pass a resolution on single leadership in its June 23 meeting, which was opposed by Panneerselvam who said that according to party rules it cannot be done without his signature.
- The EPS has the support of a larger number of party legislators and district secretaries as compared to the OPS. There are about 75 district secretaries, 63 MLAs and 2190 general council members in the EPS camp. Meanwhile, amid the long-running drama, some OPS loyalists also joined EPS. Tiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan also extended their support to the EPS on Tuesday itself.
- Panneerselvam moved the Madras High Court to get the general body meeting scheduled for July 11 stopped. However, on Monday, Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy dismissed the plea saying that the court cannot interfere in the feud of a political party. The meeting of the General Council may be held in accordance with the law.