Deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam, who had a sharp exchange of words with Chief Minister and party co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the party’s executive meeting on September 26 over a couple of issues, including the formation of a steering committee, appears to be firm on the setting up of the panel.
This was the impression gathered by party leaders who interacted with him this week. A confidant of the Deputy Chief Minister told The Hindu that as far as Mr. Panneerselvam was concerned, the issue was only about the formation of the committee, while details regarding its size and composition could be regarded as secondary.
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Of course, the Panneerselvam camp expects a reasonable number of its representatives to be accommodated in the event of the constitution of the panel.
The genesis of the idea, according to the Panneerselvam camp, could be traced to the understanding it had reached with the Palaniswami camp during the merger of the two factions in 2017.
At the time, the two camps had agreed to have a steering committee with 11 members. The idea was that such a panel would provide a framework on a number of issues to enable the coordinator and the co-coordinator to arrive at “mutually acceptable” decisions. It could come in handy in the run-up to elections, when the party would have to hold discussions with many outfits on alliance matters. But the Palaniswami camp is not in favour of forming the steering committee. It is of the view that the committee, if formed, had the potential to create more complications than it could handle. Already, there are two panels in the party — the parliamentary board, which chooses candidates for elections, and the petitions committee.
If the purpose of the steering committee is to hold negotiations with other parties for an alliance, it can be served by forming an exclusive panel, as was done during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, explained two members of the CM’s camp.
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They added that the selection of members for, and the exclusion of members from, the steering committee, would confound the situation.
A perusal of the Tamil text of the 12th resolution, which was moved by Radhapuram legislator I.S. Inbadurai and adopted by the AIADMK general council in September 2017, reveals no reference to the steering committee. The motion only defines the role and functions of various office-bearers, committees and wings of the party. But the term ‘steering committee’ figures at the end of the 10thresolution, allowing the creation of the posts of coordinator, co-coordinator and deputy coordinators.
Meanwhile, Mr. Panneerselvam on Wednesday continued to hold consultations with his supporters at his residence on Greenways Road in Chennai.
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Among those who met him during the day were deputy coordinator K.P. Munusamy, former Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan and former MP P.H. Manoj Pandian.
In the morning, the Deputy Chief Minister, also the Minister for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and ex-officio chairperson of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), presided over the 265thmeeting of the Authority, which lasted nearly 45 minutes. The meeting was attended by senior government officials, including Principal Secretary (HUD) Rajesh Lakhoni and Member Secretary of the Authority D. Karthikeyan.
