Despite being allowed into AIADMK office again, cadre prefer to stay away

CHENNAI:  Though the court-imposed one-month ban on entry of cadre into the AIADMK office ended on Sunday, there was no buzz at the headquarters of the main opposition party in the State, due to the internal power tussle between leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami. However, security has been beefed up near the party office since Saturday.

While Palaniswami was elected as the party’s interim general secretary at the general body meeting held by his faction on July 11, Panneerselvam and his supporters entered the office, leading to a clash between supporters of both leaders. Following this, the AIADMK headquarters was sealed on July 11 on the orders of the Revenue Divisional Officer under Sections 145 (1) and 146, following incidents of violence in the area.

Though the keys were handed over to Palaniswami and the seal was removed from the party office on July 21, the court had directed that party cadre should not be allowed in the premises for a month. Even supporters of Palaniswami were absent from the headquarters on Sunday. The court on August 17 ruled that the general council meeting on July 11 electing Palaniswami as the party’s interim general secretary is not valid, following which Panneerselvam extended an invitation to work together for the welfare of the party.

However, the invitation was rejected by Palaniswami, saying it is impossible to work with those who vandalised the party headquarters. The court also ordered the conduct of a fresh general council meeting of the AIADMK based on a petition in which Panneerselvam questioned the legality of the meeting and alleged the party bylaws were violated.