Chennai (Tamilnadu): A split after the death of M.G. Ramachandran and a split after J Jayalalitha's death, the present AIADMK can be referred to as 3.O.
After MGR's demise, Jayalalitha's team and Janaki's team united in the next election (the 1989 Lok Sabha election) after having contested only one election (the 1989 Assembly election) as a split party.
Edappadi Palaniswami said, "Don't call this a split or division, we removed them (O.Panneer Selvam, VK Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran) from the party."
Edappadi Palaniswami enthusiastically celebrated the foundation day of the AIADMK at the party office here. Speaking to the media later, he said, "It is because AIADMK is united that we are now able to hold various programs at the headquarters."
He categorically denied reports that six former ministers had held talks with O. Panneerselvam and others, saying, "All the six people you mention are with me. It is a blatant lie that they came to me and asked me to rejoin those expelled from the party. We are the real AIADMK."
Apart from this O. Panneerselvam celebrated AIADMK foundation day by garlanding the statue of MGR here. Panneerselvam's supporter Pugazhendhi met reporters in Salem and responded to Edappadi Palaniswami's allegations.
"Edappadi Palaniswami doesn't seem like he will change and he won't change," he said, adding that MK Stalin will continue to be the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister if there is no unity within the AIADMK.
Saying that senior leaders like Ponnaiyan and Chemmalai, who are still in the party led by Edappadi Palanichami, are the right ones to answer, Pugazhendhi said, "The AIDMK is now caught in the hands of a dictator."
O. Panneerselvam first became the Chief Minister when Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, 2016, due to ill health. Later Sasikala tried to become Chief Minister. O. Panneerselvam raised the war flag in protest. At the same time, Sasikala had to go to jail in the assets case. So Edappadi Palaniswami, who was a minister with the support of Sasikala, became the Chief Minister.
While Sasikala went to jail, the then Speaker Dhanapal disqualified the MLAs while the supporters of O. Panneerselvam acted as a separate team, thus by-elections were held for 22 constituencies in 2019. This election was seen as a test of Edappadi Palaniswamy's personality.
DMK won 13 seats in that by-election. AIADMK led by Edappadi Palaniswami got only nine seats. Through this, the DMK claimed that they were the real winner as they won more constituencies despite Edappadi Palaniswami retaining the majority in the Assembly. The AIADMK faced a heavy defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well. The Edappadi Palaniswami-led AIADMK polled only 19.39% of the votes and won only one Lok Sabha constituency, Theni.
AIADMK's series of defeats: The by-elections and Lok Sabha election defeats fueled the discontent that AIADMK lacked a charismatic leader. AIADMK won only 66 constituencies in the 2021 assembly polls with 33.29% votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it got only 20.46% votes and lost in all 34 constituencies contested.
Edappadi Palaniswami has openly accepted in a party meeting that AIADMK's voter turnout has decreased by 10 per cent. In 2019, 2021 and 2024 elections, AIADMK lost 46% of the votes. In particular, political observers point out that the AIADMK won 32.6% of the votes in the 2006 assembly elections despite not coming to power.
ETV Bharat raised these questions to AIADMK's former minister and organisational secretary Semmalai about the reasons for this decline in AIADMK.
He said, "In some media, some people have not correctly predicted the decline in votes. Parliamentary election votes should not be compared with assembly election votes. For example, 2011 election and 2016 legislative assembly election votes and vote percentages should be taken."
Similarly, in the 2021 assembly elections, he said that AIADMK's vote percentage did not decrease, there was no vote split, and there was no decline in votes. While agreeing that AIADMK's votes in the 2024 parliamentary elections are low, these statistics are not relevant for assembly elections, he said.
"People vote according to which party should come to power in Delhi. The result of the Lok Sabha election is determined based on that. AIADMK sees both national parties as equal. We are not in alliance or friendship with any national party. We see both parties as two sides of a coin," Chemmalai said.
