AIADMK General Council endorses Palaniswami as CM candidate

Endorsing Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party’s Chief Ministerial face for the assembly elections due in April-May, the General Council of ruling AIADMK on Saturday sent out veiled messages to ally BJP and V K Sasikala, who will walk out of a Bengaluru prison later this month.

Party deputy coordinator K P Munusamy said the electoral battle in Tamil Nadu is only between AIADMK and DMK and that national parties can only piggyback on them, in what is seen as a direct message to ally BJP, which is ambivalent on the question of the Chief Ministerial candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Munusamy also sent out an indirect message to Sasikala, late Jayalalithaa’s close aide and interim general secretary of the AIADMK for about nine months, saying “her” release from jail would not make much difference to the government and the party. The senior leader was one of the first to openly rebel against Sasikala taking over the reins of AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016.

The comments by Munusamy hold significance as elections are just a few months away and the remarks come amidst reports that the BJP was indulging in hard-bargaining with the AIADMK vis-a-vis seat-sharing. Munusamy’s speech was heard with rapt attention by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

“There are no sleeper cells in the AIADMK. She (Sasikala) may come out, but she will not make any impact,” Munusamy said on Sasikala’s likely release from Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru on January 27. In his speech, Panneerselvam said none in AIADMK is “slave” to anybody, in an attempt to punch holes in suggestions that the party top brass was reporting to the BJP.

The General Council, AIADMK’s highest decision-making body, also endorsed the decision to project Palaniswami as the Chief Minister and a resolution passed vowed to bring the party back to power for a third consecutive term.

The General Council also authorised Panneerselvam and Palaniswami to decide on the question of alliance. Though AIADMK is certain to lead an alliance for the election, its allies, including BJP, have been posturing for the past few months.

While Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) led by G K Vasan has announced it is part of the AIADMK combine, other partners like PMK, and DMDK are yet to make formal announcement on the alliance.