MADURAI/ CHENNAI: Senior AIADMK leader and Madurai North MLA Rajan Chellappa, in a surprise move, on Saturday held a press conference in Madurai at which he called for a stable, single leadership in the party.
Speaking to media at his MLA office in Madurai, the leader criticised the dual leadership of the party and questioned why the general council had not yet been convened to discuss the party’s poor performance in the recent parliamentary elections. He further stated that a general secretary should be chosen so that the party could be led by a single leader.
This is the second time such a demand has been raised since the death of Jayalalithaa, the first being when O Panneerselvam was chief minister and VK Sasikala, general secretary. Chellappa’s demand comes as the party gears to local body polls and a no-confidence motion against Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam declined to comment on the development.
Chellappa alleged that Paneerselvam and Palaniswami, in their capacity as party coordinator and joint coordinator respectively, were unable to take any quick decisions and claimed that the cadres wanted a strong and single leadership to gain victories in the future. Asked which of the two leaders should lead the party,
Chellappa said both had been identified by Jayalalithaa and either of them or any other person who had people’s support could be the party general secretary.
Palaniswami, at Salem, denied any ‘group’ politics within AIADMK. Asked if dual leadership was responsible for AIADMK’s defeat in Lok Sabha elections, he said, “You alone can say that,” before adding: “AIADMK is a party governed by the cadre... every cadre is a leader here.”
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Selvaraj denounced Chellappa’s demand as impossible. “Chellappa has raised an unnecessary issue. It is not possible now as the CM and deputy CM are together leading the government and the party well. His demand for a single leadership is to create confusion among party cadres and functionaries. But neither the cadres nor functionaries can be diverted by this demand,” he told Express.
“AIADMK is a democratic party and everyone has the right to air views... Instead of raising these issues within the party, Chellappa has gone to media. It pains us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chellappa who questioned why the nine MLAs, elected in the recent bypolls, had not visited Jayalalithaa’s memorial to pay their respects, said, “By the grace of god and the blessings of Amma (Jayalalithaa), the government has been saved by the victory of nine MLAs. DMK cannot defeat this government by any means and now deception of (AMMK leader) TTV Dhinakaran has also blown over... Further, no more MLAs, including DMK MLAs, wish to resign their posts and they will not try to dissolve the government.”
The MLA said he had raised the issue through media only because the party had not convened a general council meeting after the elections. Commenting on the developments, political analyst Raveenthran Thuraisamy said, “Any confrontation between the two top leaders of AIADMK will be fatal for the party. If there is a confrontation, eventually, the ‘two leaves’ symbol will once again be frozen.”
“Though Palaniswami is strong within the party, Panneerselvam is indispensable in the present situation. As such, they should sit together and sort out the issues instead of allowing it to grow further,” he added.