On Wednesday, all eyes in Tamil Nadu were on AIADMK party headquarters in Royapettah, in Chennai. There were men dancing with Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s image painted on their bellies, and AIADMK cadres were lined up with placards praising him as the most successful chief minister in the state. Minutes later, the announcement came from the party headquarters, declaring Palaniswami as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly polls in 2021.
“I declare Palaniswami as our party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2020-21 assembly election,” O. Panneerselvam said. The list of names in the 11-member steering committee was announced by Palaniswami. Soon, the party seniors standing behind the two clapped their hands in approval. Sweets were distributed among the party cadres by Palaniswami supporters.
“The opposition parties, which tried to cause confusion in our party, could not succeed. We are together,” a gleaming Panneerselvam told the media. The two leaders, flanked by ministers, soon went to the beach side memorial of late J. Jayalalithaa to pay respects to her.
The midnight parleys, which went on till 3.30am on Wednesday, finally saw truce between Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, as it was decided that the former will continue as the party coordinator and deputy chief minister and the latter would be the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly polls.
With these announcements, the power tussle in AIADMK, which was out in the open in August appears to come to an end.
“This is only a temporary truce. As of now, the issue is settled. Palaniswami will be CM candidate and Panneerselvam is the party coordinator. But Panneerselvam has definitely lost his hold in the party. Palaniswami is all powerful. This is evident even from the members in the steering panel list,” said a senior minister and a leader from the western districts.
It is to be noted that party seniors like Natham R. Viswanathan and V. Maitreyan, who were the first ones to call on Panneerselvam when he launched the DharmaYudham in 2017 against V.K. Sasikala haven't found a place in the panel. Sources close to Viswanathan said Panneerselvam telephoned him hours before the meeting on Wednesday to inform him that he could not accommodate Viswanathan in the panel. “This was because the Palaniswami team did not want him. And Panneerselvam could not help but go by whatever the Palaniswami team wanted,” said sources in the Panneerselvam camp.
Panneerselvam, however, could not ensure that Mani brothers—Thangamani and Velumani—are not part of the panel.
Panneerselvam's graph has clearly dropped, said highly placed sources close to him in the party.
Hours after the announcement, the AIADMK IT team was busy releasing several videos promoting Palaniswami, calling him, 'a farmer who rose to become a chief minister', 'a simple man who worked with MGR and Jayalalithaa', 'young man who steered the victory of the party in the constituencies in and around Salem and the western districts in 2016'.
All the social media handles of AIADMK soon had the image of the chief minister, with the two leaves on the background and a slogan 'nammil oruvaar, namakkana thalaivar' (one among us is our leader) as the profile picture,
Palaniswami being promoted as the face of the party has come as an advantage for the party as of now, as he is looked at as a politician who positioned himself as a leader even during trying times and steered the government by keeping the MLAs together.
However, AIADMK’s 2019 ally and a friendly BJP is yet to accept Palaniswami as the chief ministerial candidate for the alliance. “We cannot call Palaniswami as the chief ministerial candidate for AIADMK-BJP alliance now,” said BJP’s former minister and senior leader Pon Radhakrishnan.
Meanwhile, the opposition DMK and the Congress are happy that a there is now a face opposite M.K. Stalin for the next election. “Even if Jayalalithaa was alive she will not be able to win the 2021 elections. Now what if Palaniswami or Panneerselvam is the candidate,” tweeted former TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar. Incidentally, Thirunavukkarasar was the person behind positioning Jayalalithaa as the AIADMK party leader in the late 80s after the death of MGR.
The Sasikala factor
According to highly placed sources close to the Panneerselvam camp, the arrangement will only be temporary till the elections. “Even before the elections, the release of Sasikala will be influential in deciding the future of the party.”
Meanwhile, the move by Income Tax department on Wednesday, attaching the properties of Sasikala under the Benami Act has come as a shocker for the Sasikala supporters in the AIADMK. Seniors like O.S. Manian, Anwar Rajha, K.A. Sengaotaiiyan, Sellur K. Raju, K.T. Rajenthira Balaji who have been toeing the line of Sasikala, have not got recognition in the steering panel.
Sasikala’s release and her politics thereafter would play an important role in deciding the prospects of the party in the southern districts as she hails from an influential community in the southern Tamil Nadu.
