CHENNAI: A fresh conflict over the role of deputy leader of opposition has erupted inside the AIADMK as the winter session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly is about to start on October 17.
Former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS) previously held the role of deputy leader of the opposition, while Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who also serves as the AIADMK's interim general secretary, currently leads the opposition in the state assembly.
On July 11, during the party general council meeting held on the outskirts of Chennai, OPS and others connected to him were ejected from the AIADMK, and Palaniswami was elected as the party's interim general secretary.
The expulsion of OPS is still pending in the Supreme Court after the ousted leader petitioned against the Madras High Court division bench order supporting the expulsion. In the meantime, the EPS faction has asked Assembly Speaker M. Appavu to permit party legislator R.B. Udhayakumar to attend meetings of the Business advisory committee. Tuesday, Palaniswami forwarded the letter to the Speaker via AIADMK Deputy Whip S. Ravi.
Panneerselvam, the former chief minister and ousted AIADMK leader, has already asked the Speaker to declare him to be the opposition's deputy leader.
A leader close to OPS said, "At the party's general council meeting on July 11, OPS was kicked out. You cannot claim that O. Panneerselvam is not with the party till the Supreme Court of India has ruled on a petition he filed. We'll make a decision after the order is given." Even while the BJP has made some gains among grassroots supporters since K. Annamalai, the former IPS officer, was elected as the state unit's president, the factional conflict in the AIADMK is seriously hurting the prospects of the NDA from Tamil heartland as the 2024 general elections get near. The BJP is in favour of a grand coalition of OPS, EPS, V.K. Sasikala, and T.T.V. Dhinakaran, source said.
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