AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami convened an urgent meeting of the party’s district secretaries in Chennai on Monday, as internal differences surfaced within the party.
According to the report, a group of former ministers including S P Velumani, C V Shanmugam and C Vijayabaskar has rallied against Palaniswami, citing the party’s continuing electoral setbacks. The group is said to have the backing of 25 MLAs and has demanded that a general council meeting be convened.
With 22 MLAs reportedly on his side, Palaniswami called the district secretaries’ meeting at the party headquarters in Royapettah earlier than usual. Party organisational functionaries collected letters from district secretaries expressing support for Palaniswami’s leadership; some who could not attend on time later met him at his residence to submit their letters.
In his remarks, Palaniswami said the alliance led by the AIADMK had won 53 Assembly constituencies and claimed the result reflected the impact of his constituency-wise campaign tour. He also criticised those who, he alleged, could not secure victory even in their own districts but were acting against the party out of “position-seeking”.
In a statement, the AIADMK said the alliance’s victories in 53 constituencies were due to Palaniswami’s “whirlwind campaign”, and that district secretaries and headquarters functionaries thanked him and assured full support and cooperation.
