Chennai: Isolation of O Panneerselvam (OPS) was near complete at the AIADMK general council meeting which has only widened the chasm between him and his deputy in the party, Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). The power struggle appears to have reached a point of no return and the party seems to be heading for a split as the dual leadership has come unstuck. Armed with the High Court order disallowing the issue of single leadership, replacing the current diarchy of OPS and EPS running the party together, OPS faced a cold reception at the venue.
Supporters of EPS far outnumbered those of OPS and even on the stage, both the leaders did not see eye to eye. None of the 23 resolutions except the one on condolences, was passed at the meeting as agreed upon earlier to the shock and disappointment of OPS. Soon after the commencement of the meeting, former Minister C Ve Shanmugam took the podium to announce that all the 23 resolutions were rejected by the council and an overwhelming majority of the members were for discussing the single leadership issue. Echoing him, senior leader KP Munusamy said, the need of the hour was single leadership and other matters on the agenda have to be rejected.
"In the next general council meeting, all the resolutions will be ratified along with that on single leadership," he added. The proceedings commenced under interim presidium chairman, Tamil Magan Hussain, an EPS loyalist. Later, EPS proposed a resolution 'electing' Hussain as the presidium chairman. Shortly after that, Shanmugam and Munusamy submitted a memorandum signed by 2190 general council members, demanding a unitary leadership to steer the party.
"It is increasingly becoming difficult to take on the ruling DMK because of the present dual leadership. The cadre are dejected due to the lack of coordination among the dual leadership. Hence, it is demanded to remove the present dual leadership and opt for an effective single leadership to strengthen and provide direction to the AIADMK," read the memorandum. Taking the OPS camp by surprise, Hussain announced that the next general council would be held on July 11.
This prompted R Vaithilingam, an OPS loyalist and deputy coordinator of the party, to take the podium and vent his anger, saying "The meeting is being conducted in violation of the rules. It is illegal." Earlier, when OPS proceeded to speak on the dais, water bottles were hurled at him. This prompted OPS and his supporters to leave the meeting in protest. The meeting was held hours after a High Court bench overturned a single judge order and restrained the general council from taking the issue of single leadership on the agenda. After a late night hearing, the court said only the 23 resolutions could be passed at the meeting.
Though a split appears imminent, senior leader and former minister D Jayakumar put up a brave face discounting it. “There will be no split. This is the decision of the general council and it has to be respected. The next meet will ratify the single leadership,” he told the media. “We not marginalising OPS or anyone for that matter. It is not our intention. But, not accepting the will of the general council will result in being isolated,” he maintained.
While OPS was treated as a persona non grata at the meet, EPS was honoured with a silver crown and a sword after the former had left. Now, the question is whether the presidium chairman has the power to call for a general council meeting, which is vested with the dual leadership. As expected the events at the meet have invited the wrath of the OPS camp with Vaithilingam fuming that “it was the height of authoritarianism."
"What was conducted was not the general council. It was a play staged by those hungry for power. Even the election of presidium chairman was illegal and a gross violation of procedure. Hussain has no authority or power to call for the general council. It is vested only with the Coordinator and the Joint-Coordinator. The new resolutions were passed against the court order. There is no possibility of another general council as announced. We will move a contempt petition," he told the media.
Yet, he also said that OPS was ready for talks and it was for the other side to respond and take a call. This is seen as a move to keep open the doors for dialogue. But, it remains to be seen whether the EPS camp is ready for a patch-up after so much bloodletting. Well, July 11 will reveal whether there is rapprochement or the split gets formalised.
