CHENNAI: AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday took the final step to become the topmost single leader of the party as he filed his nomination papers for the post of general secretary while his former colleague O Panneerselvam and his associates fumed at this and moved the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the election.
In accordance with the amended bylaws of the AIADMK, Palaniswami’s nomination was proposed by 10 district secretaries and seconded by another 10 district secretaries. Party sources said around 40 nominations were received in the name of Palaniswami from other functionaries and no nomination was filed to contest the election. As such, after the deadline for filing nominations ends at 3 pm on Sunday, the election commissioners are likely to declare the election of Palaniswami formally.
Soon after Palaniswami filed his papers his rival camp of Panneerselvam knocked on the doors of the Madras HC to stall the polls. PH Manoj Pandian, an MLA, filed a petition before the HC seeking an interim injunction to stay the party polls. In a statement here, the OPS faction clarified that the rumours about the nomination being filed for the post of general secretary on behalf of OPS are totally wrong, and such misinformation is spread with a view to creating confusion.
The petition is listed before Justice K Kumaresh Babu for hearing on Sunday morning at a special sitting. Since the court had earlier refused to grant a stay on the operation of the resolutions of the July 11, 2022, general council meeting which led to the election of EPS as interim general secretary on plaints filed by Manoj Pandian and two other leaders, they now moved the latest petition for an urgent hearing as the election is scheduled to be held on March 26.
Meanwhile, OPS also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and other commissioners, saying as per records of the commission, the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator still exist and the announcement for this election has been made without the consent of the coordinator. Besides, civil suits questioning the validity of the resolutions passed in the July 11, 2022, general council meeting are pending disposal, he said.
Meanwhile, at the residence of OPS, his faction’s advisor, Panruti S Ramachandran, said the election is being conducted in a childish and undemocratic manner. “A small group that does not know about the sacrifices made by our late leaders and those who are ignorant of the party bylaws are conducting this election,” he said. OPS said none of the procedures for conducting an election was adhered to. He also announced a state-level conference will be organised at Tiruchy.
At the AIADMK headquarters, the party’s organising secretary D Jayakumar said the election was being held in a democratic manner by following party rules. Meanwhile, Jayakumar submitted a petition to police commissioner Shankar Jiwal and sought protection at the AIADMK headquarters till the election is over.