CHENNAI: Indicating that O Panneerselvam is not the coordinator of the AIADMK, party leader Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday asserted that the amendments to the party bylaws to facilitate election to the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator had not been validated by the general council that met on June 23. Buoyed by the support of 63 MLAs, 70 district secretaries and 2,582 general council members, the EPS group is gearing up for a special general council meeting on July 11 to anoint Palaniswami as general secretary.
In his one-page reply, Palaniswami wrote: “Anbulla Annan avarkalukku vanakkam (greetings to beloved brother)”. EPS wrote further, “The amendments to the party bylaws expired. Therefore, your letter written on the assumption that you are the coordinator of the party is invalid. ” Palaniswami addressed the letter in his capacity as party headquarters secretary to OPS, the party treasurer. He said Panneerselvam writing a letter to him was unacceptable after the latter had made all efforts to bring the AIADMK to a standstill by complaining to the Avadi police commissioner to prevent the general council meeting convened by both of them on June 23 and filing cases in court.
Ameeting of headquarters functionaries was arranged after informing OPS and others on June 27, as the last day of nomination of papers for the local body bypolls ended on June 27 and the fact that party candidates were not announced officially even after waiting for several days, Palaniswami said. “Of the 74 offi- ce-bearers, 65 took part and four members absented themselves from the meeting, citing illness. Your letter is not valid since you boycotted the meeting,” EPS said. Sources said in his reply to the Election Commission on Tuesday, Palaniswami maintained that OPS and himself were no longer coordinator and joint coordinator as the last general council did not validate the amendments. The supreme body had rejected the 23 resolutions, including election of dual post.
A copy of Palaniswami’s Thursday letter was released to the media by the party headquarters half-an-hour before the deadline ended for submission of authorisation forms of the party leadership to the state election commission. OPS supporters accused EPS of sabotaging the attempts of party cadres to contest in the ‘two leaves’ symbol. Of the 510 seats going to bypolls, 34 would have party symbols.
Munusamy slams OPS for moving court
AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy slammed party leader O Panneerselvam for moving the Madras high court to stop the general body meeting scheduled to be held on July 11 in Chennai. Munusamy told reporters that OPS had lost the moral right to speak on party affairs after he moved the court. As per the party rules, a cadre loses his primary membership if he moves the court against it, Munusamy said. “After losing the moral right, how can he write a letter to former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on issuing forms A and B to candidates for the local body by-election,” Munusamy asked.
