CHENNAI: Battling for power within the AIADMK, leaders Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam on Friday expelled each other's supporters from the party. While Palaniswami removed 21 cadre, Panneerselvam booted out 42 district secretaries and Puducherry (East) State secretary A Anbazhagan.
Among those expelled by Palaniswami for "anti-party activities" are former MLA A Subburathinam, and T Maran, Civil M Murugesan, N Jeyadevi, Manjula Palaniswami, and N Jawahar, son of former minister Vellamandi N Natarajan.
Panneerselvam, meanwhile, claiming to still be the party’s coordinator, expelled former ministers Pollachi V Jeyaraman, C Vijayabaskar, V Somasundaram, P Benjamin, Madhavaram V Moorthy, BV Ramana, KC Veeramani, Agri SS Krishnamoorthy, KP Anbazhagan, KV Ramalingam, KC Karuppannan, M Paranjothi, MR Vijayabaskar, R Kamaraj, and SP Shanmuganathan, among others.
He also removed the party's women's wing State joint secretary Keerthika Muniyasamy, and told AIADMK cadre not to be in contact with those who have been expelled. Panneerselvam on Wednesday expelled 22 functionaries after Palaniswami removed 22 of the former’s supporters, including his two sons, from the party.
O Paneerselvam should apologise for commotion Former minister Sellur K Raju
MADURAI: O Paneerselvam should apologise to Edappadi K Palaniswami for creating all this commotion in the party, said former minister Sellur K Raju in Madurai on Friday.
Addressing the media after garlanding statues of former CMs MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, the newly-appointed organising secretary of the AIADMK said, "All our party workers should reunite under the leadership of EPS. We are ready to welcome back those who left the party if they apologise for their mistakes. The violence that took place at the party headquarters was unfortunate."
Raju also said the party positions were provided to functionaries based on their service to the party and not on the basis of their caste