CHENNAI: As the filing of nomination for the post of the AIADMK general secretary came to a close on Sunday afternoon, nearly 2,500 nominations were filed by party leaders and cadre from across the State — every single one of them in the name of the incumbent J Jayalalithaa.
With this, the Chief Minister is all set to be elected unopposed for the seventh consecutive time as the general secretary of the party, a post she first occupied 26 years ago, in 1988, after the death of party founder and former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran.
After the party invited nominations for the post of general secretary to be filed from August 20, serpentine queues were seen in front of the party headquarters in the heart of the city from day one. There were ministers, MPs, MLAs and other elected members down to the panchayat level, and party functionaries from district secretaries till the grassroots waiting in line, all carrying forms nominating Jayalalithaa as the party chief.
When the time for nomination ended at 3 pm on Sunday, there were a total of 2,467 nominations submitted to the election officer, AIADMK organising secretary Visalakshi Nedunchezhiyan. At Rs 25,000 nomination fee, the party received Rs 6,16,75,000, said a release from the party headquarters.
The next steps of the formality will be completed on August 27 when the nomination papers are scrutinised, and the result will be declared on August 29, incidentally Vinayaka Chathurthi.
Election to the post of general secretary should be conducted once in five years according to party rules. Jayalalithaa was elected as the leader in 1988 by the faction she led, and a year later, the splinter group merged to become one under her leadership. Since then, she has been elected unopposed in 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008.