AIADMK single leader row timeline: OPS attends general council meet after divisional court ruling

A divisional court ruled that no resolution could be passed for unitary leadership in the AIADMK during the general council meeting on June 23. Post this ruling, OPS decided to attend the meeting. Here is a timeline of the AIADMK unitary leadership controversy.

A division bench of Justice Duraiswamy and Justice Sundar Mohan, on Thursday morning, ruled that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general council (GC) meeting should only hear the 23 resolutions already presented to O Pannerselvam (OPS) for approval. It also ruled that no decision can be taken on the issue of unitary leadership in today's meeting.

Prior to this, the Madras HC, while hearing a case filed against conducting the GC meeting, ruled that the meeting was allowed to happen. Justice Krishnan Ramasamy stated that the court couldn’t pass restraining orders against the general council and that it shouldn’t interfere in such matters.

But, the divisional bench’s ruling to not allow any resolution on unitary leadership comes as a sigh of relief to the OPS camp. Post this verdict, OPS decided to attend the general council meeting, despite multiple attempts to postpone or cancel it.

The power struggle within the AIADMK came to the fore yet again ahead of the party's general council meeting. While Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and OPS, on several occasions in the last year, released individual statements on issues, unlike the normal norm of sending a joint statement, the differences and the power struggle have increased in recent days.

The controversy began once again on June 14, when former minister, D Jayakumar, restarted the unitary leader controversy. Jayakumar, while speaking to India Today, said that several party functionaries were calling for a single leader in the AIADMK.

“We discussed several issues in the meeting. Singular leadership also came up and many party members were favouring this. Only later will it be decided as to who will be the leader,” said the minister.

The power struggle within the leadership and Jayakumar's statement fueled a poster war in the TN since June 15. Supporters rooting for the two leaders (EPS, OPS) began pasting posters in several parts of the state. In a few places, there were even tussles between EPS and OPS supporters over the removal of those posters.