Chennai: For the first time after 1991, the ruling AIADMK would be facing the 2021 Assembly polls by projecting a Chief Ministerial candidate, when Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O Panneerselvam announced the name of Chief Minister and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami as the nominee.
“I am happy to announce that our dear brother Palaniswami will be the victorious Chief Ministerial candidate of the AIADMK for the 2021 Assembly elections,” he said at a crowded press conference at the AIADMK headquarters.
He said the unanimous decision was taken unanimously in consultations with party presidium chairman E Madusudanan, deputy coordinators and other office bearers.
“Our party is founded by MGR in name of Anna. MGR created a revolution by making it as a political movement and won three succesive terms”, he said.
“Later, Our Amma (late leader J Jayalalithaa) dedicated herself for the growth of the party on the same path of MGR by. His dreams of party and government should be with cadres and we are doing it now,” he said.
After MGR, the AIADMK faced the 1991 elections by projecting Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister and she remained the automatic choice for CM till her death in December 2016.
In May 2016 polls, she bucked the trend and guided the party to a second successive term in the elections. However, after her death, Panneerselvam, who was Jayalalithaa’s man-Friday, having been twice made as Chief Minister earlier, was again nominated to the post for the third time in December 2016.
After he resigned from the post revolting against expelled interim general Secretary and Jayalalithaa’s close aide V K Sasikala, whose CM’s ambitions came down to earth following her conviction in the DA case, Palaniswami was made the Chief Minister.
After successfully running the government for close to four years since February 2017, fissures emerged in the party over the choice of CM nominee for the 2021 Assembly polls, with both Palaniswami and Paneerselvam contending for the post. However, after marathon discussions, the issue was amicably resolved by projecting Palaniswami as the CM face of AIADMK.