Once termed as political ‘lightweight’, Edappadi K Palaniswami completes 4 years as CM

When Edappadi K Palaniswami, then just a minister and a district secretary in the AIADMK government, took over as chief minister, many thought his dispensation would not last beyond a few months. However, Palaniswami not just managed to keep the AIADMK flock together for four long years, but also consolidated his position within the party showing his challengers, notably his one-time boss O Panneerselvam, their place.

On Tuesday, Palaniswami will complete four years in office as chief minister with the AIADMK government brought to power for a second consecutive term by late J Jayalalithaa set to complete its five-year tenure in May.

Palaniswami began asserting his position from the beginning though his colleagues came to trust him and put their weight behind him much later – he occupied the chamber meant for chief minister, in a change of custom followed by OPS who continued to function from a room allotted to him as a minister.

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Palaniswami was handpicked by Sasikala as the leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party after her dream of sitting in the chief minister’s saddle was shattered by the Supreme Court ruling upholding a trial court order that sent her to four years in jail in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. As Sasikala cooled her heels in the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, Palaniswami began consolidating his position within the government and the party.

He displayed his political acumen by forcing OPS, who rebelled against Sasikala and functioned as a separate faction, to merge with the AIADMK and making him his deputy, a demotion for the man who was a standby for Jayalalithaa twice when she had to quit due to court cases.

However, OPS, for the record, is his boss in the party hierarchy. Palaniswami along with OPS check-mated T T V Dhinakaran, Sasikala’s nephew, and threw him out of the AIADMK. “Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has utilised the extraordinary situation in the AIADMK to build his political career. He has balanced many situations and people by consolidating his position in the party. Despite not being a mass leader, the chief minister has been able to emerge as the face of the AIADMK,” political analyst Prof P Ramajayam told DH.

If Palaniswami could run the government and the party for four years despite hurdles, including those created by Dhinakaran and his camp, it is also because of the support he received from the BJP, which has been taking many decisions for the regional party after Jayalalithaa’s death.

AIADMK’s dependence on the BJP is one of the main issues that the Opposition DMK flags against the ruling party – DMK chief M K Stalin calls the AIADMK as being “subservient” to the Centre.

“Not just circumstances, the Centre’s support is what facilitated a smooth sailing for the EPS administration. The breathing line for the EPS government was provided by the BJP and the Central Government. Without that, he could not have survived,” Prof Ramu Manivannan, Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, told DH.

Despite a devastating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Palaniswami ensured the victory of AIADMK candidates in by-elections held to two constituencies held by DMK and Congress.

That is when he conveyed the message to his prime challenger, DMK President M K Stalin, that he is no pushover. Both EPS and Stalin are currently crisscrossing the state having launched their campaigns much earlier in the day.

Now that Sasikala is back from prison and has announced that she will take a plunge into active politics, EPS may have to walk the extra mile to keep the party united as both he and the party face the acid test in the April-May Assembly polls.

“He is far more vulnerable now than earlier. Because the person who placed him in the chief minister’s chair, Sasikala, is back in Chennai,” Manivannan added.

To his credit, Palaniswami, with help from bureaucracy, ran the administration and brought in landmark legislation like providing 7.5% reservation for government school students in medical admissions. However, the crackdown on people for protesting against Salem-Chennai Highway and Sterlite Copper sullied the government’s image.