CHENNAI: Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the AIADMK's newly appointed general secretary, will shortly embark on a statewide yatra against the DMK government's "misrule."
Despite the fact that the news has not been made public, sources in the opposition party said that the Palaniswamihas planned to launch the yatra around the end of July and would be attacking the DMK government.
It should be noted that Palaniswami, who had been named the interim general secretary of the party during the party general council meeting on July 11, has now emerged as the party's sole leader. Since J. Jayalalithaa, the party's supremo and former chief minister passed away, Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam have become the party's dual leaders.
According to sources within the AIADMK, the yatra's primary goal is to test the local waters following O. Panneerselvam's removal from the party, not to target the DMK. The party's traditional support base of the Thevar community, which has been its mainstay in Southern Tamil Nadu, has eroded as a result of the departures of Panneerselvam, V.K. Sasikala, and TTV Dhinakaran, all significant Thevar leaders.
Palaniswami dropped enough signals during a public event on Friday in Salem to indicate that the party will attack the DMK. He had said that the AIADMK won't permit the Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, to use his influence to destroy the organisation. Invoking confrontations between the two groups, he said that the government had shut down the party's headquarters in Chennai. He further said that this was an attempt by the DMK administration to marginalise the AIADMK.
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