Panneerselvam offers to return to AIADMK, says gen secretary should be elected by party cadres

Theni (Tamil Nadu): Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday said he was willing to return to the AIADMK, but insisted that the all-powerful general secretary post in the party should be elected by cadres.

Asserting that democracy should be restored in the AIADMK, which had elevated an ordinary worker like him to occupy the top position in the party, he said he was striving to unite the various factions in the party and wanted to take it onto the path of victory in the 2026 Assembly election.

The former coordinator of the AIADMK, who was expelled by its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, accused the latter of amending the bye-laws for his elevation.

"I, TTV Dinakaran and Sasikala (who were also expelled from the AIADMK) are ready to unite with the AIADMK without any conditions. We can sort out the issues through talks," Panneerselvam, who now heads the ADMK Workers’ Rights’ Retrieval Committee, told reporters here.

Following his expulsion, former Chief Minister Palaniswami had ruled out any scope to take him back into the party.

Recalling former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa saying that the AIADMK would continue to rule the state for a century, Panneerselvam said this could become a reality if all the factions united and worked for the common cause.

He flayed Palaniswami for taking credit to the Athikadavu-Avinashi irrigation and groundwater recharge project, and said it was sanctioned during the tenure of Jayalalithaa.