AIADMK general council rejects all resolutions, reiterates demand for single leadership

Council members reiterate the need for a single leader.

Restrained by the Madras High Court, the AIADMK general council that met at Vanagaram, Chennai, on Thursday, could not deliberate on electing former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the party’s sole leader.

However, the Council members (numbering 2,190) submitted a demand reiterating the need for a single leader to the newly elected presidium chairman Tamilmagan Hussain, while the meeting “rejected” all resolutions on the agenda. Mr Hussain said the next general council meeting will be held at the same venue on July 11 where the issue of unitary leadership would be discussed (after overcoming legal hurdles).

It was a show of solidarity for Mr. Palaniswami’s leadership on Thursday. All the roads leading to the venue and majority of the council members were filled with his supporters. The mantle could not be passed though.

A visibly irritated Mr. Palaniswami refused to be garlanded during the meeting. 

The party coordinator O. Panneerselvam, who moved the High Court against any amendment to usher in unitary leadership, was not at all welcomed at the meeting. There were shouts of “don’t come” when he entered. He looked lonely and lost in his chair on stage and walked out when they announced the date for the next general council meeting.