EPS also announced the formation of a steering committee, the OPS demand.
After intense deliberation for more than a week, the AIADMK has chosen its main ministerial candidate. The chief minister, Edappadi Palaniswami, will be officially the face of the party in the upcoming elections in 2021.
O Paneerselvam, who is co-coordinator, announced Edappadi Palaniswami as CM’s candidate for the Assembly Elections.
Palaniswami, who is the joint coordinator of the party, announced the formation of a steering committee, which has been the demand of O Panneerselvam. EPS announced Wednesday that the 11-member steering committee will include Dindigul Sreenivasan, Thangamani, Velumani, D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugam, Kamaraj, JCD Prabakaran, Manoj Pandian, Mohan, Gopalakrishnan, Manickam.
The announcements were made by AIADMK at the party’s headquarters in Chennai on Wednesday.
On September 28, the party held an executive meeting with senior leaders to discuss party business. During the interaction, the deputy CM OPS stated that he should be the party’s CM candidate, as he had been chosen by former CM J Jayalalithaa to take office in his absence. He noted that EPS had been chosen by VK Sasikala, the former secretary general who has been rejected by the party.
EPS, however, claimed that they had both been chosen by Sasikala, according to sources, arguing that he had performed well as Chief Minister and even handled the pandemic well. With the leaders not reaching a conclusion, the president of the presidium, E Madhusudhanan, declared that a final decision on a candidate for CM will be made on October 7.
After this, parliamentary agitation took place between the senior ministers and the CM and the deputy CM.
During the discussions, according to sources, OPS insisted on the formation of a steering committee to help make decisions for the party. While EPS initially opposed the creation of two different power centers in the party, it is said that it eventually relented.
With the friction between top party leaders out in the open, it was seen as an advantage for the DMK, which has a clear candidate for CM’s career. However, with this announcement made, AIADMK sources say the party can work together towards a single goal.
Tamil Nadu will go to the Assembly polls in 2021.
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