Tamil Nadu elections 2021: Amid EPS-OPS showdown, AIADMK buys time till Oct 7 for decision on CM candidate

Knives were out in the ruling AIADMK at its Executive Committee meeting on Monday with barbs being exchanged between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. The heated exchange of words led to postponement of the decision on the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly polls yet again.

After a marathon five-hour discussion, AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munuswamy announced that the Chief Ministerial candidate will be announced by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami jointly on October 7. However, there were indications that there was a possibility of the decision being postponed on the aforementioned date as well, sources told Deccan Herald.

The sources said the majority of the party's district secretaries and ministers supported EPS, but OPS got the decision postponed yet again. The two leaders have been fighting with each other to be the party’s CM candidate and senior leaders have been trying to arrive at a consensus for the past two months but in vain.

“Since a majority said a decision needs to be taken on the question of the CM candidate immediately, it was proposed to take a call in 10 days, and we zeroed in on October 7 for the meeting. Wait for that day,” a senior leader said, adding that three leaders from each side will meet “very soon” to arrive at a resolution.

The meeting was a “stormy affair” with supporters of Palaniswami insisting that a decision on the Chief Ministerial candidate be taken immediately, while Panneerselvam questioned the CM’s reluctance in appointing a steering committee to run party affairs.

At one point, Panneerselvam, the sources said, pointed out that he was “handpicked” by late J Jayalalithaa for the Chief Minister’s post twice, while Palaniswami was V K Sasikala’s choice. “The Chief Minister responding saying both were the choice of Sasikala,” a senior leader said, adding that the meeting was inconclusive.

Panneerselvam is also understood to have told the meeting that he agreed to hold the post of Deputy Chief Minister only for the “current term” and sought his pound of flesh.

Leaders owing allegiance to Palaniswami, who has managed to run the government for over 3.5 years, said the Chief Minister should be declared as the “party’s face” for the 2021 assembly elections for keeping the party united. The impending release of Sasikala from a Bengaluru jail is also believed to have come up for discussions during the meeting.

Some leaders, the sources said, suggested that Palaniswami and Panneerselvam should sit together and sort out their differences and come to a decision.

Panneerselvam, though sidelined and having lost majority of his supporters, trying to assert his authority is significant given that he has opened a line of communication with AIADMK rebel T T V Dhinakaran, nephew of V K Sasikala, for a patch-up.

Deccan Herald had on September 24 reported that Panneerselvam, who rebelled against Sasikala in February 2017 before she surrendered before authorities at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, has dialed Dhinakaran in a bid to contain Palaniswami.