Chennai: A poster has sprung up near the AIADMK headquarters which urges party co-coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to take up the post of general secretary.
‘Aa Ee Aa Thi Mu Kaavin puthiya kazhaga podhu seyalalaraga padhavi erka varungal, manbumigu Edappadiyare’ (Respected Edappadi, come to take charge as the new party general secretary of the AIADMK) said the poster that carried a picture of late party general secretary and chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Palaniswami.
Published in the name of party functionary Kolathur K Arumugam, the poster has stirred a hornet’s nest by stating that that was the wish of all party cadres.
The poster has cropped up at the time there is a tussle within the party with a few MLAs raising their voice against dual leadership – shared by coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and Palaniswami – and the party is holding its meeting this morning.
MLAs Rajan Chellappa and R T Ramachandran stirred the pot by seeking an end to dual leadership of the party and seeking unitary leadership like in the time of MGR and Jayalalithaa.
Today’s consultation meeting, being held at the party headquarters at Royapettah, Chennai, involves district secretaries of the party, MPs and MLAs. This is the first meeting of the party after its debacle in the 2019 general elections, where it won only one seat, and partial victory in the by-polls to the Assembly.