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The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim chief Edappadi K Palaniswami expelled 18 O Panneerselvam supporters from the primary membership of the party. On Thursday, the AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami expelled 18 members of the party including the sons of O Panneerselvam from the primary membership.
The 18 members to be expelled are supporters of Panneerselvam and the two expelled sons of OPS, O P Ravindhranath and V P Jayapradeep are Lok Sabha MP. The other heavyweight leaders who were sacked from the party include former minister Natarajan, Kolathur Krishnamoorthy and Marudhu Alaguraj.
Meanwhile earlier on Wednesday, AIADMK appointed KP Munusamy and Natham Vishwanathan as deputy general secretaries. The party appointed Ponnaiyan as secretary for International MGR Forum and SP Velumani is appointed as Headquarters Secretary.
The others, Sellur Raju, Shanmugam, Dhanapal, Rajendra Balaji, Kadambur Raju and six others were appointed as organizing secretaries for the party. The leadership tussle between O Paneerselvam (OPS) and Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) was underway for a long. According to sources, the EPS will be holding a meeting with party MLAs on July 17. The meeting will reportedly be held at the residence of EPS on Chennai's Greenways Road.
Meanwhile on Thursday, reacting to AIADMK expelling Theni Lok Sabha MP OP Ravindranath, O Panneerselvam said 'removing Ravindranath is a complete dictatorship'. "In the last General Election 2019, OP Ravindranath won and that is the only seat where AIADMK won. Removing Theni Lok Sabha MP is a complete dictatorship," said O Pannerselvam, Expelled AIADMK leader and father of OP Ravindranath.
Notably, Edappadi K Palaniswam was elected as the party's interim general secretary at its general council meeting held on Monday after the nod by the Madras High court. Earlier, the Madras HC rejected a plea by OPS and allowed the general council meeting, which proposes to revive the interim general secretary post and abolish coordinator as well as joint coordinator posts to be held. It is important to note that the meeting passed as many as 16 resolutions, including one that squashed dual-leadership and created the post of deputy general secretary and to ensure electing a person for the post by the primary members of the party. The party election will be conducted in four months.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)