File photo of Edappadi K. Palaniswami
The AIADMK, at its emergent executive meeting in Chennai on Friday (August 16, 2024), reiterated its support to its general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, for his efforts to re-establish the AIADMK’s rule under his leadership after the 2026 Assembly election.
A resolution to this effect was adopted at the meeting, which lasted over an hour at the party headquarters in Royapettah. Among the proposers of the motion was former Minister and the party’s face in Coimbatore district, S.P. Velumani, who, along with five other senior leaders, had discussed with Mr. Palaniswami, about a month ago in Salem, the need to bring back all the followers and supporters of the party’s founder M.G. Ramachandran and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to the party’s fold.
Through another resolution, the party re-emphasised its position on the formation of a “mega alliance” and “a new political strategy” to defeat the DMK in the 2026 Assembly election.
This was the first executive meeting of the party after its poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, the executive, in one of the motions, thanked the people for having voted for the party and its ally.
In total, nine resolutions were adopted at the meeting, which was attended by a large number of veterans and senior functionaries. Though the meeting took place amid growing calls for re-unification of all groups owing allegiance to MGR and Jayalalithaa, it did not address the issue in any of its resolutions.
There had been suggestions within the party circles that a “conducive climate” be created “for the re-union“ of former coordinator O. Panneerselvam, former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala, and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran with the AIADMK.
The party also targeted the DMK government in the State on a host of issues — “non-supply” of essential commodities through fair price shops; “sloppiness” in the implementation of schemes such as free saree, dhoti, and uniforms for school students; failure on the law and order front and in safeguarding the rights of the State on livelihood matters; and a display of “political vendetta” towards programmes of the previous AIADMK regime.
The party asked the DMK to restore the monthly billing cycle for electricity consumption and criticised it for not addressing the factors responsible for “the decline in industrial investment.” The principal Opposition party in the Assembly described the three-year-rule of the DMK as a “government of agony,” and not a “government of achievements.”
The AIADMK also criticised the Union government for “not sanctioning the required” projects and “not making adequate financial allocation” for the State. Apart from demanding that the levy of Goods and Services Tax at the rate of 18 percent on insurance policy schemes be removed, it wanted the Centre to declare the Wayanad landslides in Kerala as a “national disaster.”
