The Madras High Court has rejected an appeal filed by senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) against the election of Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as the party’s general secretary. According to the Bar and Bench, the plea was filed by OPS and three more people expelled from the party. The appeal sought a stay on their suspensions and also an interim injunction against the election of EPS as general secretary.
However, a division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq refused to stay both the expulsions and the election of EPS as the general secretary of the party. No prima facie case made out, ruled the bench.
EPS and OPS have been at loggerheads since June 2022, when former minister and a lieutenant of Palanisamy, D Jayakumar, demanded an end to dual leadership. At the time, EPS was the co-ordinator and OPS was the joint co-ordinator, following an agreement they entered into, at the instance of Prime Minister Modi himself. But the bonhomie didn’t last long, and the two leaders fell out.
OPS went to the Madras High Court to seek a stay on the general council meeting on June 23, 2022, where this was to be decided, but the Court refused. He then approached the Supreme Court, which passed an order saying that the meeting could take place but there should be no changes in party bye-laws or resolutions to that effect.
However, during the general council meeting, more than 2000 members of the party voted to discuss the single leadership issue, which led to a scuffle between the supporters of the rival leaders. The meeting was then postponed to July 1, when EPS was voted as the general secretary of the AIADMK and a special resolution was passed to expel OPS from the party.
In retaliation, OPS declared that he was sacking EPS from the party. Observers say it was a futile gesture anyway, as party workers and leaders all seemed to have rallied behind EPS. A recent AIADMK conference at Madurai led by EPS drew huge crowds, cementing his hold on the party.
Also in February this year, the Supreme Court upheld the amendments made to the party bye-laws. The verdict came as a major setback to OPS.