Factional feud forces AIADMK to go for low-key golden jubilee celebrations

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party, turned 50 on Monday, but the golden jubilee celebrations were a low-key affair due to intense factional feud in the outfit. There were three separate events by as many factions to mark the party completing 50 years and stepping into its 51st year.

While the party’s interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami led the celebrations at MGR Maaligai, the AIADMK’s headquarters, V K Sasikala and O Panneerselvam conducted their own events at different timings in Chennai. The only common thing among the three events were all the three claimed ownership to the AIADMK.

Palaniswami, who controls the majority faction and got himself appointed as interim general secretary by the General Council, wished the party cadre in the morning but refused to take political questions from the media. OPS, who paid respects to party founder M G Ramachandran at his memorial in T. Nagar, claimed that the majority of the party’s cadre were with him and that he would never let them down.

The AIADMK split into several factions after the death of J Jayalalithaa, who nurtured the party after the death of its founder MGR in 1987.

On the day the party entered its 51st year, the AIADMK boycotted the first day of the Assembly session after there was no change in the seating arrangements in the House. The current seating arrangement places OPS and EPS next to each other and the dominant faction wanted the seat next to EPS allotted to R B Udhayakumar who is now the deputy leader of the AIADMK legislature party.

Responding to a question, Speaker M Appavu said he will respond to any queries raised by the concerned on the floor of the House regarding the seating arrangement. “Since this is an issue that concerns the House, it is not proper for me to talk about it in public. I will make my decision public on this issue in the Assembly if clarifications are sought,” Appavu said.