CHENNAI: Hectic discussions were witnessed at the residences of AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday, a day after most of the senior functionaries demanded single leadership for the party.
Breaking his silence at 8:15 pm, Panneerselvam, through a tweet, appealed to the AIADMK cadre to maintain calm. Earlier in the day, functionaries and cadre thronged his residence, and raised slogans in support of Panneerselvam leading the AIADMK.
Around 7:30 pm, Panneerselvam came out of his residence and met his supporters. However, he did not speak to them or to the media.
In many southern districts, wall posters appeared supporting Panneerselvam while posters were seen in Chennai in support of both leaders. In one place, the wall posters supporting Panneerselvam were torn and his followers staged dharna for some time.
"Panneerselvam has been furious ever since the issue of single leadership was raised all of a sudden on Tuesday. He consulted a number of functionaries who expressed shock at the sudden development and urged him not to give up his rights in any way. Panneerselvam listened to the suggestions calmly and interacted with leaders from southern districts," a senior functionary who called on the AIADMK coordinator told The New Indian Express.
Asked whether any compromise formula could be arrived at to resolve the present crisis, the functionary said Panneerselvam is weighing various options before him and declined to elaborate further.
At the residence of Palaniswami too, former ministers and senior functionaries held discussions with him. A senior lawyer-functionary supporting Palaniswami told The New Indian Express that since 99 per cent of the office-bearers of the party are with Palaniswami this time, Panneerselvam has to accept the overall wish of the party.
However, a senior functionary who is a long-time supporter of Panneerselvam vented out, "The general council of the party wound up the general secretary post in deference to late leader J Jayalalithaa and ratified the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator. Last year, a further amendment was made to elect coordinator and joint-coordinator by a single vote. Based on that, all intra-party elections were completed, and the details submitted to the Election Commission. After these developments, how will the EC accept single leadership?"
He added, "Palaniswami might have managed to garner the support of senior office-bearers. But in his native district and southern districts, Palaniswami has very little support among the grassroots functionaries."
VK Sasikala is yet to react to these developments though she has been expressing concern over the expulsion of cadres for expressing solidarity with her.
Posters backing OPS in Theni go viral
THENI/ MADURAI: Supporters of AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam affixed posters across various places in Theni district unanimously seeking his single leadership for the party, which went viral on social media.
In Madurai, Tiruparankundram MLA Rajan Chellappa told mediapersons that cadre and functionaries would obey the decision of the general council and executive committee about single or dual leadership. "We don’t have individual opinions about the leadership row," he said.
SC rejects former AIADMK Minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji's petition
VIRUDHUNAGAR: The Supreme Court rejected former AIADMK Minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji's petition seeking permission to take part in the AIADMK general body meeting in Chennai from June 22 to 25.
He is seen as one of Edappadi K Palaniswami's loyalists. Balaji, who was arrested in a job scam case in January, is on conditional bail and has been told to stay in the district until the probe is over. His participation is seen as significant amid the single-leadership debate.