AIADMK convener O. Panneerselvam (OPS) and co-convener Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) have called a meeting with the ministers and others at the party headquarters on Friday. This meeting gains significance as this will be the first meeting in which these two leaders will participate after a row over the party’s CM candidate ahead of the state’s Assembly elections.
The entire controversy erupted after Minister Sellur Raju said that the CM candidate would be selected by the party close to elections. A few days later on 11 August, Minister Rajendhra Balaji responded in a tweet and pitched EPS as the CM candidate. Following these developments, a poster was put up in Theni (the home constituency of Panneerselvam), saying that he was blessed thrice by ‘Amma’ (former CM J. Jayalalithaa) to be the chief minister. On 15 August, almost 10 ministers were found shuttling be- tween OPS and EPS residence to iron out the issue and after several rounds of talks and compromises, OPS put an end to the CM candidate controversy by asking the cadres to remain faithful to the party and not to any individual.
CM Palaniswami has already toured the entire state for Covid review meetings and ensured that he met various representatives of the districts and also made political remarks against the Opposition parties in the press. Party insiders add that the Deputy CM Panneerselvam would also plan a tour in the
coming days to meet the party cadres at the districts.
Sources say that in Friday’s meeting, various election- related issues like projecting EPS as the CM candidate, alliances and election preparations would be discussed. In the last months, only the office bearers were holding meetings to discuss the election-related works. The meeting, which will be headed by the EPS and OPS, signals that the AIADMK is starting its work for the 2021 elections. Recently, the DMK too convened its general council meeting and sounded the election bugle.