As the political tug-of-war within the AIADMK continues, all eyes were on the party meeting called by the united faction at the headquarters in Chennai on Monday. The meeting, led by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, which went on for around an hour-and-a-half, passed four important resolutions.
Resolutions passed by the Chief Minister included a call for a General Council meeting at the earliest. Despite much speculation over when the General Council would be convened, which is where the ruling faction intends to expel General Secretary VK Sasikala, there was no date announced at the meeting.
Another resolution that was termed null and void were all the party appointments made by Dhinakaran, who has been on a major reshuffling spree, sacking several leaders, including EPS, and replacing them with his loyalists. The resolution also brings to attention the fact that Dhinakaran’s appointment as Deputy General Secretary was invalid as Sasikala’s appointment as General Secretary was under scrutiny by the Election Commission.
The united faction also passed a resolution stating that legal procedures will be initiated to retrieve and attach party mouthpieces – Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR. Both the party mouthpieces are presently under the control of Sasikala’s family.
The final resolution promised to uphold the values left behind by late CM Jayalalithaa.
Significantly, of the 112 MLAs that are reportedly supporting EPS, only 80 showed up at the party headquarters.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, AIADMK leader and Dhinakaran supporter Nanjil Sampath, however, dismissed the resolutions made by senior minister and MLAs.
Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR are both private properties. How can someone who does not even know this become the Chief Minister? This is why our Deputy General Secretary called him a ‘420’.Nanjil Sampath
The Dhinakaran supporter further added that only the General Secretary can call for a General Council meeting. Close to 35 MLAs were not present at the AIADMK headquarters on Monday for the meeting. Members of the EPS faction claimed they were busy with party work and other responsibilities.
So far, 22 MLAs have openly pledged their support for TTV Dhinakaran.
(This article was originally published by The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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