Trouble is brewing up in AIADMK over the choice of the Chief Ministerial candidate to lead the party in the 2021 Assembly Election which may take place in the months of March-April as the tenure of the current House is coming to an end by May 2021.
The executive committee (the highest policy decision making body of the party) which met at Chennai on Monday turned out to be a stormy affair as the incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam had a wordy duel over who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate.
K P Munusamy, MP, a close associate of Panneerselvam , announced at the end of the proceedings that the party would meet again on October 7 when the name of the chief ministerial candidate would be declared.
Party insiders told The Pioneer that Chief Minister Palaniswami said the he had handled the Covid-19 pandemic in an exemplary manner and even the Prime Minister of the country had complimented his for the ‘good work’. He also pointed out that the State has seen a number of entrepreneurs making a beeline to set up industries and Tamil Nadu registered overall development during the last four years.
But Panneerselvam claimed he agreed to bury all the differences and accepeted the post of deputy chief ministership only for this term (2016-2021). “I was the natural choice of Amma (Jayalalithaa) for the post of chief minister on both the occasions when she had to step down. Palaniswamy is the choice of Chinnamma (V K Sasikala, late Jayalalithaa’s close aide who is undergoing imprisonment in the disproportionate asset case) and was appointed by unseating me for no mistakes of mine,” said Panneerselvam.
It is known that lady luck smiled on Palaniswami in the form of Supreme Court verdict in the Disproportionate Asset case in 2017 February. The apex court upheld the verdict delivered by the Bangalore Special Court which had sentenced Sasikala and others to four years rigorous imprisonment. Sasikala was to be sworn in as Chief Minister on February 16 but her dreams were shattered by the Supreme Court verdict on February 14. Palaniswamy was a stopgap arrangement as chief minister as Sasikala wanted to induct TTV Dhinakaran, her nephew, as chief minister in her absence.