Pushed to the corner, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam on Wednesday launched a frontal attack against his former colleague Edappadi K Palaniswami by terming the latter as a “dictator” who has brought endless amendments to the party Constitution “only to suit his personal interests.”
In his speech at a meeting of his supporters in Chennai which was attended by veteran AIADMK leaders like ‘Panruti’ S Ramachandran, Panneerselvam implied that Palaniswami was able to run the AIADMK only because of its legacy and challenged him to “come to the streets and launch a new party” if he was “quite sure of his popularity.”
The meeting in which leader after leader mounted a massive attack on Palaniswami, who still enjoys brute majority within AIADMK forums, seeking to know his contributions to the half-a-century old party. Leaders like Ramachandran and R Vaithilingam, former minister in the Jayalalithaa government, warned Palaniswami of “serious repercussions” if he continues to “bulldoze” dissent and run the party as a “dictator.”
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OPS, who was expelled by the General Council dominated by EPS supporters on July 11, is trying to resurrect his image among AIADMK cadre but with little headway in his efforts. He claims that his expulsion was “invalid” as the General Council wasn’t convened according to established rules of the AIADMK and wants the EPS camp to take him back into the party. The rival camp is in no mood to accept the demand.
“Who are you? Have you ever met our party founder M G Ramachandran? You created so many hurdles on the day the General Council convened. As a coordinator, I was not even accorded the slightest respect on that day,” OPS said, adding that EPS has no authority to trample on the Constitution of the party nurtured by Jayalalithaa.
He also took a dig at the EPS camp for appointing him as the interim general secretary of the AIADMK when the party had in 2017 decided to appoint Jayalalithaa as the eternal general secretary of the party. “Neither cadres nor people will forgive you for the act of going back on the promise. If you have guts, come onto the streets, and launch a new party. This is a party which was founded with so much sacrifice by cadres,” he added.
The meeting also comes a day after the Palaniswami camp convened a meeting of district secretaries, MPs, MLAs, and spokespersons of the party.
AIADMK, which is now split into several factions following the death of Jayalalithaa, is an ally of the BJP, which had played an important role in the merger of EPS and OPS factions in 2017 that eventually saved the Dravidian party-led government in Tamil Nadu. However, this time, the BJP decided to stay away from the AIADMK’s internal crisis by taking a neutral stand.
OPS, who stood for Jayalalithaa twice when she had to resign as chief minister due to corruption cases, lost his clout within the party after the 2017 Marina Rebellion against Sasikala even as EPS consolidated his position within the party by completing his tenure and leading the AIADMK to the best-ever performance in a losing election.