EPS SEIZES THE DAY

AIADMK

- Amarnath K. Menon

Perhaps the All-India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has finally laid J. Jayalalithaa's ghost to rest. Even in death, puratchi thalaivi had remained larger than life, continuing to be the 'eternal general secretary of the party nearly six years after her demise on December 5, 2016. That changed on July 11 when the AIADMK general council did away with the principle of dual leadership and elected the 68-year-old E. Palaniswami (EPS) as interim general secretary. The former chief minister checkmated both rival contender O. Paneerselvam (OPS) as well as Jayalalithaa aide V. Sasikala to emerge as the sole inheritor of the AIADMK legacy at a time when the party is out of power and has only 66 MLAs in the 234-member assembly, and ally BJP is seen as the more effective Opposition in the state.

Neither OPS's last-minute attempt to have the courts to intervene, nor violent clashes at MGR Maaligai, the party headquarters in Chennai, could stop the inevitable, as the 71-year-old ex-CM and a few others were shown the door. Sasikala, who has been trying to make a comeback since her release in 2021, was neutralised through an amendment in the party constitution (see A New AIADMK). Both declared the general council meeting illegal. OPS's attempts to stall it via the courts came to an end at 9 am on July 11, when Justice Krishnan Ramasamy of the Madras High Court said the will of the people has to prevail in a democracy and that courts cannot interfere. If anyone was still aggrieved, they could file a civil suit later, he ruled. Frustrated, OPS and his men stormed MGR Maaligai, squatted there and allegedly made off with computers and digital records. The high drama ended only after the police and other authorities arrived to seal the premises.