- Pramila Krishnan
- BBC Tamil
Supporters of AIADMK co-coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami said that there should be a single leadership in AIADMK, while coordinator O. Panneerselvam’s supporters also started to clash. It can be seen that the division has widened at the district level starting from the party headquarters.
As the case related to the conduct of the AIADMK General Committee is being heard in the court on Monday (July 11), there is no dearth of excitement as OBS-EPS supporters are clashing, giving separate interviews, ex-ministers of AIADMK and senior party officials giving interviews in response.
Last week, there was a clash between OBS-EPS cadres in a meeting chaired by District Secretary Muniyaswamy regarding single leadership on behalf of AIADMK in Ramanathapuram. In it, scenes of throwing chairs and attacking them have gone viral on social media.
Political observers say the incident shows that AIADMK workers at the district level are forced to join either OPS or EPS.
The IBIS team has stepped up preparations with the assurance that the General Assembly will take place as scheduled on July 11.
A good judgment will come: Jayakumar
Regarding this, former minister Jayakumar said, “We will get a good verdict in the court. Arguments have been made in the right direction. We have given the invitation as usual. The members attending the General Assembly have arrived in Chennai. We are 100 percent confident that we will get a good verdict in the court,” he said.
But no formal invitation was given to the General Assembly scheduled for Monday, says Kowai Selvaraj, an OBS supporter.
“The invitation can be accepted only if the coordinator and co-coordinator are signed. Calling by claiming to be head club executives cannot be accepted. This is the first time such an invitation has been issued. We hope that the judge will order the general assembly to be conducted properly,” says Coimbatore Selvaraj.
Selvaraj also said that the ruling DMK, son of EPS supporter KP Munuswamy’s son Satish, has allocated a space in Krishnagiri district and approved for running a petrol station on lease for 99 years and the station has been opened by the DMK minister himself.
Regarding this, K.P. Munisamy said, “Kovai Selvaraj who leveled the allegations was just an arrow, the shooter was OBS.”
“I left OPS because of the situation of working with DMK,” he said.
“It is painful and embarrassing to think of traveling with OPS for so many years. My son does not run that petrol filling station alone. There is a network to run it. My son is a member of it. It was started during the last AIADMK regime to generate revenue for the government. The licenses were duly obtained. It has been received and inaugurated by the minister in the current regime,” says Munusamy.
Meanwhile, those in the OPS-EPS team are giving the appearance of gaining strength on their side. We spoke to senior journalist Gubendran about this situation prevailing in AIADMK.
“Looking at the current events, it is clear that Opis is losing influence in his own district. Many of his supporters went to the Ibis tent. It can be seen that his influence has declined. There has been a situation where people who have been loyal to the party for a long time have to become OBIs or IBIS supporters. At the same time, it cannot be said that all volunteers accepted EPS as their ideal hero. In the current situation, we can see that there is a loss of confidence among the AIADMK workers,” he says.
“Many people are making accusations that OPS is favorable to DMK and Sasikala. At the same time, in the context of the need for someone to lead the party, the volunteers are looking for an available candidate. While EPS seems to be on the upswing, it is questionable whether it will last. There is also a possibility of someone else becoming the leader without OPS-EPS in AIADMK,” says Gubendran.
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