AIADMK on Friday announced the schedule for elections to the post of General Secretary, a move aimed at consolidating the position of Edappadi K Palaniswami in the party. In all likelihood, Palaniswami will be elected unopposed to the powerful post.
In a statement, the party’s election commissioners Natham R Viswanathan and Pollachi V Jayaraman said the filing of nominations can be done on March 18 and 19 which will be taken up for scrutiny on March 20. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 21 and in the case of a contest, the election will be held on March 26.
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Sources said Palaniswami will file his nomination papers and that no one else is expected to file. Electing EPS as General Secretary will further consolidate the position of Palaniswami within the AIADMK and allow him to take decisions to rejuvenate the party cadre and devise strategies to end the party’s successive electoral defeats. The AIADMK hasn’t won any elections after the death of its leader J Jayalalithaa in 2016 – it lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 Assembly polls to the DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu.
The move comes after the Supreme Court validated the July 11 General Council that reverted to the post of General Secretary and appointed Palaniswami as the interim GS. The GC had also decided that a new GS should be elected within four months, but the elections couldn’t be held as expelled leader O Panneerselvam challenged Palaniswami’s appointment in the Supreme Court.
However, the OPS camp said the election schedule was “illegal”.