Palaniswami to meet key AIADMK members amid Panneerselvam's claim of support from cadres

Amid renewed claims by expelled leader O Panneerselvam over the party, AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has convened a meeting of district secretaries, MPs, and MLAs of the party on December 27.

The announcement of the meeting came on Tuesday, a day before OPS is set to meet his supporters. In a press release, the AIADMK said a meeting of the district secretaries, MPs, MLAs, and spokespersons of the party will be held at the party headquarters in Chennai under the leadership of Palaniswami.

Sources said the meeting will discuss a host of crucial issues concerning the AIADMK. The meeting also comes at a time the party’s legal issues are only compounding each passing day – the EPS camp was forced to give an undertaking before the Supreme Court that it won’t hold the elections for the post of general secretary, for now.

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“The meeting will be yet another demonstration of the support that EPS enjoys in the AIADMK. There are claims by others, but we don’t attach any importance to them. The legal setbacks are temporary, and the meeting will give a new focus to the party,” a senior leader told DH.

The meeting also comes close on the heels of EPS declaring that the AIADMK will stitch a rainbow alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to defeat the DMK. The BJP has said that the alliance will be led by AIADMK.

OPS, who was expelled from the AIADMK on July 11, is upping the ante by claiming that the cadres are with him. The former chief minister, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar last week, will meet his supporters on Wednesday to chalk out the next course of action.

EPS, who enjoys brute majority in party forums, wants to take absolute control of the AIADMK and doesn’t want to cede space to anyone. However, OPS, VK Sasikala, and TTV Dhinakaran claim that the AIADMK is a “single unit,” and everyone has to come together to reclaim the party’s old glory.