AIADMK power tussle: Former Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam questions Edappadi K Palaniswami leadership in SC

CHENNAI: Former chief minister O Panneerselvam on Saturday said that AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's "intentions of engineering an illegal but swift hostile takeover of the party" had been frustrated by the interim order of the Supreme Court on September 30, restraining the party from holding of elections to the post of general secretary.
In his written response to an application filed by Palaniswami in the Supreme Court, seeking relief from Election Commission on the resolutions passed in July, Panneerselvam said that he was the coordinator of the party and the resolutions for amending the bylaws and expulsions by the AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami were illegal. "The stand of Palaniswami that no such posts (coordinator and joint coordinator) exist as on date is clearly incorrect," OPS said. He said that EPS had been completely suppressing the fact that both were elected unopposed and unanimously to the posts of the coordinator and joint coordinator by an electorate comprising the entire primary membership of the party in December 2021. "This election is for a term of five years, i.e., until December 2026. The will of the primary membership of the party cannot be overridden by a purported majority in the general council, which is only one of the constituent organs of the party," OPS said.
The communications purportedly sent by Palaniswami to the Election Commission were sent without any authority under the law and contained several misstatements, he said. The Election Commission has rightly refrained from acting on such illegal communications sent by Palaniswami, the former chief minister said. Refuting the charges that the AIADMK could not field candidates in the (local body) bypolls, OPS said he had expressly written to Palaniswami on June 29, requesting for the Form A and B to be sent to him for signatures.