Soon after the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday allowed former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) to continue as the chief of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the party’s headquarters at Chennai’s Royapettah erupted into jubilation with his supporters bursting crackers, distributing sweets and pouring a pot of milk on his portrait.
EPS was in Madurai district to attend the wedding of his supporter and senior leader R B Udhayakumar’s daughter when the news of his victory in this long and bitter battle broke.
The verdict has ended seven months of uncertainty in the AIADMK as former chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) went to the top court challenging a Madras high court order that allowed the general council meeting of July 11, 2022, which elected EPS as the party’s interim general secretary and expelled OPS and his supporters.
“I’ve been counting days and haven’t slept at nights,” EPS said on the dais at the wedding. “On my way here, I was so worried about the verdict. There was a smile on my lips but not in my heart,” he added.
Madurai has a temple for party founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) and his successor J Jayalalithaa with their life-size statues. It was constructed by Udhayakumar in a 12-acre land in January 2021.
“When I got into the car, Udhayakumar told me, ‘let’s go to the temple first, garland Amma and Thalaivar and then go to the wedding hall’. I prayed to both of them at the temple for us to receive a good verdict,” EPS said.
“When I was leaving the temple, they gave me the news. This is their power. Both our leaders have supported us.”
Armed with the verdict, EPS will soon be made AIADMK general secretary, the party’s top most post held previously by its icons MGR and Jayalalithaa.
Following Jayalalithaa’s demise in December 2016, EPS and OPS merged their warring factions taking up new posts as joint-coordinator and coordinator making Jayalalithaa their “eternal general secretary”. The dual posts stand abolished now. “Senior leaders will soon decide on my election,” EPS said.
Later at a press conference, asked about his rival-turned-colleague-turned-rival OPS, EPS said that the verdict has closed the chapter.
“Some people will not be taken back,” EPS said in an obvious reference to OPS and TTV Dhinakaran who was ousted along with his aunt and Jayalalithaa’s former aide, V K Sasikala in 2017. EPS added that they would take back those who have worked for the party barring a few.
OPS has been crying foul over a range of issues from his expulsion to the abolition of the dual leadership and not sticking to the appointment of Jayalalithaa as their ‘permanent general secretary’.
He had described EPS as a dictator from whom he wants to reclaim the party.
OPS’ supporter K Vaithilingam put up a confident face. He said that while the Supreme Court has allowed the proceedings of July 11, it will not have a bearing on the matter pending in a civil court in Chennai.
“And the SC has not said that the resolutions passed on July 11 are allowed. We will challenge the resolutions,” Vaithilingam said. “That’s all. So, this is not a major impact for us. After reading the full verdict, we will explain our next course of actions.”
From being an accidental chief minister, 68-year-old EPS has had a meteoric rise in Tamil Nadu’s politics. In Jayalalithaa’s 2016 Cabinet, he was only fourth in the pecking order. EPS was barely known until Sasikala handpicked him to be the chief minister when she was sent to the Bengaluru prison in February 2017.
OPS had always seemed like an obvious choice since Jayalalithaa had trusted him to be the acting chief minister twice when she was jailed. OPS had also held the important finance portfolio.
EPS has not just won against OPS but crushed Sasikala, one of the AIADMK’s erstwhile power centres. Even when the AIADMK lost in the 2021 assembly elections, EPS, the chief ministerial candidate, had led one of the party’s best performances in a losing election. For now, he remains the boss of the Dravidian major.
“Justice and truth have won today,” EPS said. “This verdict has given 1.5 crore cadre of the AIADMK much joy. We will continue our party work with a new energy now…The Erode by-election is what is important now,” he added.
The by-poll slated for February 27 is a direct contest between AIADMK candidate K S Thennarasu and the Congress’ EVKS Elangovan, who is contesting in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
