AIADMK General Council to meet on Nov 24

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK) announced on Thursday (November 7) that party leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami along with the top decision making bodies, Executive and General Council, will meet here on November 24.

On Thursday, Panneerselvam, AIADMK coordinator and joint coordinator said in a statement that the party Executive and General Council will meet at a marriage hall here at 10.30 am on November 24. This will be the first such meeting of the two bodies after 2017, where post their patch-up, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami removed the then interim general secretary VK Sasikala and annulled all appointments made by her, including that of her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

Palaniswami is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister while Panneerselvam is his deputy. “Invitations to Executive and General Council members will be sent separately. All of them should attend the meetings without fail,” the two leaders said. The meeting will be chaired by AIADMK Presidium Chairman E Madhusudhanan, they added.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the party’s win in two Assembly seats where bypolls were held on October 21, leading to speculations that the much delayed local body polls could also be held soon in the state.

The last meeting of the AIADMK General Council was held in September 2017, months after the internal rumblings created in the wake of the December 2016 death of then chief minister and party supremo J Jayalalithaa.

While the party was initially divided into two camps led by Panneerselvam and Sasikala, she was convicted and imprisoned in a graft case in February 2017.

While Panneerselvam and Palaniswami led the respective groups for some time, the two leaders, however patched up in August 2017, before showing the door to Sasikala, besides annulling all appointments made by her earlier. This included her appointing Dhinakaran the AIADMK deputy general secretary before going to jail.

(With inputs from agencies)