AIADMK sets house in order; to announce CM nominee and Steering Panel

Overcoming differences within the party during a marathon meeting that continued through the night, Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK is likely to announce incumbent Edappadi K Palaniswami as its Chief Ministerial face for the 2021 assembly elections and a high-powered steering committee to assist coordinator O Panneerselvam in running the party.

“All issues have been resolved. The announcement of the CM nominee and the Steering Committee consisting of senior leaders of the AIADMK will be made at 9.45 am on Wednesday,” a senior leader, who was part of the negotiations, told DH.

Both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami are expected to make the announcement jointly at the AIADMK headquarters on the Avvai Shanmugham Salai here at 9.45 am. There was little clarity on whether there will be a press conference, or the announcement will be made through a joint statement.

According to the compromise formula, EPS will be the Chief Ministerial nominee for the Assembly elections. OPS, the Coordinator of the party, has forced EPS to concede to his long-standing demand for constitution of an 11-member high-powered steering committee consisting of leaders from both factions.

However, there was no clarity on whether the “joint leadership” of OPS as coordinator and EPS as joint coordinator would continue or the AIADMK would revert to singular leadership. “Wait for the announcement. Every issue related to the party will be covered in the announcement,” the senior leader said.

Another leader said the Steering Committee will have 11 members – six from the Chief Minister’s side and five from the deputy Chief Minister’s side. While EPS is believed to have cleared the names of four ministers, a former MP from a minority community, and a former minister, who is considered to be neutral.

From OPS’s side, a veteran leader of the party, who was the blue-eyed boy of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, and senior leaders from Chennai and Southern districts, are likely to find a place.

OPS’s insistence that he should get more say in the party was one of the reasons for the fresh deadlock on Tuesday. Senior ministers spent the whole of Tuesday shuttling between the residences of OPS and EPS, less than a km away from each other, and negotiating with the two, who were reluctant to meet in person to sort out their differences.

The power struggle in AIADMK came out in the open in August when senior ministers began voicing their opinion on announcing EPS as the Chief Ministerial face much to the discomfiture of OPS. As things went out of control, OPS got EPS to sign a joint statement in which a diktat was issued to leaders not to talk or give media interviews regarding policy decisions of the party.

A month later, the issue resurfaced during a meeting of the high-level committee after which leaders resolved to convene the Executive Committee to discuss the issue threadbare. Though EPS seemed to enjoy majority among party legislators and district secretaries, OPS got the decision postponed once again.

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.