In 4 am order, Madras HC bars single leadership talks at AIADMK General Council

A special division bench of the Madras HC said that only the 23 resolutions that have already been prepared by the party can be discussed and adopted during the General Council meeting.
Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam
Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam
Written by:

Providing some relief to O Panneerselvam amid the AIADMK leadership tussle, the Madras High Court in a midnight hearing has restrained the party’s General Council from adopting any new resolution on unitary leadership. A special division bench, headed by Justices M Duraiswamy and Sunder Mohan, said in its order passed at 4 am on Thursday, June 23, that only the 23 resolutions that have already been prepared by the party can be discussed and adopted during the General Council meeting. 

A few hours before on Wednesday, the High Court refused to interfere in the GC meeting proceedings, and refused to restrain the party’s general council from amending the party’s bye-laws to pave way for a single leadership. The court was hearing a batch of petitions that sought to halt the meeting, scheduled to be held on Thursday outside Chennai. Justice Krishnan Ramasamy heard the case, while senior counsel Vijayan Narayanan represented Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and senior counsels Aravindh Pandian, and G Rajagopal represented O Panneerselvam (OPS) and AIADMK General Council Member Shanmugam respectively.

OPS had earlier sought the postponement of the General Council meeting, and insisted on dual leadership for the party. However, party joint coordinator EPS had refused. Demands have been raised within the party for ‘single leadership’ rather than have both EPS and OPS at the helm. So far, the arrangement was that EPS was the opposition leader and OPS was the party’s Chief coordinator. In addition to the opposition leader post, Edappadi was also the party’s co-coordinator, making it a dual leadership for the party.

The issue was reignited recently after 2017, when former minister D Jayakumar stated in a press meet on June 15, that the demand for unitary leadership was put forth in a district secretary meeting. OPS vehemently opposed this comment and said that the issue should have been discussed at the headquarters meeting, and not in a press meet.

The upcoming General Council meeting becomes important as the 2,600-member council is the highest decision-making body within the party, and their decision becomes crucial in deciding who becomes the party leader.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com