Two days after his appointment as the interim general secretary of the AIADMK, Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday named two deputies to work under him and made a slew of appointments by keeping the caste equations in mind.
Palaniswami named K P Munusamy, a senior leader who switched sides after having supported O Panneerselvam for five years, and Natham R Viswanathan, former minister, as deputy general secretaries of the AIADMK. While Munusamy is a Vanniyar, a dominant caste in north Tamil Nadu, Viswanathan belongs to Mukulathors, the community to which Panneerselvam and Sasikala belong.
Palaniswami appointed S P Velumani, his close confidante, as the headquarters secretary, a post which the former held for over five years. Velumani’s appointment is significant as he was one of the first to support Palaniswami when he became the Chief Minister in 2017.
He also appointed 11 organising secretaries, most of whom are former ministers. Palaniswami has taken caste equations in mind while appointing the organising secretaries – at least four of them belong to Mukulathors. Vanniyars, Dalits, and Naickers have also been given representation.
This, according to political observers, has been done to blunt the criticism that Mukulathors may be sidelined and Gounders, the caste to which Palaniswami belongs, will take the centre stage. Palaniswami has also given enough importance to the southern region from where Pannerselvam hails.
The organising secretaries are Sellur K Raju, C Ve Shanmugam, P Dhanapal, K P Anbalagan, R Kamaraj, O S Manian, Kadambur C Raju, K T Rajenthra Balaji, P Benjamin, V V Rajan Chellappa, and N Balaganga.